After four productive seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, running back Najee Harris signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency, looking for a fresh start under coach Jim Harbaugh.
However, his tenure with the new franchise hit an unexpected snag before it could even begin, thanks to a bizarre and untimely injury that has clouded his role on the team.
How Will Najee Harris’s Eye Injury Affect His Role With the Chargers?
Harris suffered a “superficial eye injury” during a fireworks incident on July 4, an issue that kept him sidelined during parts of training camp. Despite the setback, the team chose not to place him on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury List before the season started. This decision allowed him to play in Los Angeles’s opener in Brazil against their AFC West rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, where he received just one carry for a five-yard gain.
Before that limited appearance, Harris had been gradually increasing his workload. He was seen going through drills and workouts with a trainer, separate from the main team practice. Based on this progress, Harbaugh felt confident that Harris was healed enough to take the field in Week 1.
“I see Najee every day, I talk to Najee every day (and ask),’ How you feeling?’ He says, ‘Better.’ My question is, ‘Better than yesterday?’ He said, ‘Yes,’ each day that I’ve asked him that,” Harbaugh said.
“That is real encouraging. It just gives you hope that tomorrow will be better than today,” Harbaugh said. “Improvement leads to success theory at work, so simple that it just might work. Improvement will lead to success, that’s the theory.”
During his time with the Steelers, Harris was a durable and productive ball carrier for coach Mike Tomlin after being selected with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. In four seasons in the Steel City, he ran the ball 1,097 times for 4,317 yards and 28 touchdowns. However, the Steelers opted to move forward with his backup, Jaylen Warren, as their primary running back. Pittsburgh also drafted Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson in the third round and signed Kenneth Gainwell to bolster its backfield.
Meanwhile, the Chargers also invested in the position, even after signing a back who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards in each of his campaigns in Pittsburgh. The team drafted former North Carolina tailback Omarion Hampton with the No. 22 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Against the Chiefs, Hampton recorded 15 carries for 48 yards and could be emerging as the preferred backfield partner for quarterback Justin Herbert.
The upcoming Monday night matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders should provide a clearer picture of how Harbaugh intends to divide the workload between his running backs in the future.
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