Jim Harbaugh gives anatomy lesson during cold weather game preview

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has always been an incredibly entertaining presence in front of the camera. On Thursday, he tried to break down human anatomy ahead of their Week 17 game against the New England Patriots, which is expected to be colder than Chargers players are used to.

Because of his time at Michigan, both as a player and as a coach, Harbaugh is used to being on the sidelines in cold weather.

However, there is always a reputation that teams on the West Coast, particularly in Southern California, do not adjust well to the cold weather when they go on tour in December and January.

The Chargers will take that test in Week 17 against the New England Patriots, with the game expected to be in the high 30s to low 40s with a high chance of rain. To be fair, it doesn’t seem all that cold compared to what it might have been like in Massachusetts in late December.

Still, Harbaugh doesn’t seem worried about the move from Los Angeles to Foxborough.

During a news conference Thursday, Harbaugh explained that he has a number of “young, healthy” athletes with “hearts that pump warm blood” before describing how blood moves through the body.

“We had some rain at practice last week,” Harbaugh said. “It was great to have that. Most of us have played in games like this or grew up in this weather. The bottom line is that these guys are young. They are healthy and their hearts pump warm blood. Pumps it from the arteries to the veins to the tributaries and the capillaries. All over the body. You just play ball. That’s my experience.”

Harbaugh then reminded everyone that he is not a doctor, which was already clear when he mentioned “tributaries.”

“Maybe I got that in the wrong order there,” he said. “It’s well documented, I’m not a doctor. But I know that young, healthy and athletic men can produce warm blood.”

Coach/Professor Harbaugh is not worried about the cold weather for Saturday’s game in New England. pic.twitter.com/RfosDdZKVw

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2024

We’ll leave it to real doctors and medical professionals to judge whether Harbaugh accurately described the blood pumping process.

(Adam Schefter on X)