Najee Harris suffered a foot injury at the beginning of August. That reportedly allowed some of the younger tailbacks on the roster to get more work at training camp. However, the Pittsburgh Steelers' franchise running back returned to practice in full fashion earlier this week. After practice on Wednesday, Harris talked about the possibility of playing in this weekend's preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Steelers RB Najee Harris just said after practice that if he plays at all in preseason it’ll be the third game, not this weekend. He’s been dealing with a foot injury most of camp.
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) August 17, 2022
According to Steelers beat writer Brian Batko, Harris acknowledged that if he plays at all this preseason, it would only be in the third and final game next weekend.
It's not known whether that is because of the injury or if Pittsburgh is just being cautious with their star tailback. The Los Angeles Rams have set a new precedent that many teams have begun to follow. When Sean McVay became head coach, he implemented the stance of not playing starters in preseason. Initially, people believed that would backfire but it turned out to be genius.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin likely is just taking a page from McVay's playbook.
The fact that Harris returned to practice in full this week illustrated he back to full health. It would stand to reason that the Steelers would limit the second-year running back's work at camp and in preseason.
Najee Harris finished among the league leaders in carries during his rookie year with 307. He turned that into 1,200 and seven rushing touchdowns. He also caught 73 passes for almost another 400 yards and three touchdowns. He is expected to take on another bell-cow type role in what should be an improved Pittsburgh offense.
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