Doctors were pleased with the heart procedure performed on Falcons rookie right tackle Kaleb McGary, according to coach Dan Quinn.
“Number one, the doctors were certainly happy about the procedure,” Quinn said after the Falcons’ 14-10 exhibition loss to the Broncos on Thursday. “We’ll have some more updates as we go along. But for the first part of it, they were happy.”
The Falcons don’t have or would not share the timetable for McGary’s recovery. Several experts have projected that McGary’s recovery period will be six to eight weeks, but it could be sooner based on the amount of heart that was repaired and the use of blood thinners.
“We’ll kind of go through the same markers to go back and see the docs about when his return to play can be,” Quinn said. “We’ll update as we go. There is nothing to report. I know they were pleased with the procedure.”
McGary left practice Tuesday with what the team called an "illness."
The Falcons announced that he would have an ablation procedure Wednesday. Doctors have said McGary's condition is not grave.
The Falcons denied a request to interview their team cardiologist.
McGary is expected to make a full recovery. There’s a discrepancy on how many times McGary has had a heart procedure. The Falcons contends this is his third procedure. The Seattle Times reported in 2016 that he previously had three procedures.
“This won’t affect his ability to play football long term,” said Shephal Doshi, a cardiac electrophysiologist and director of cardiac electrophysiology and pacing at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif.