The Pittsburgh Steelers are working to manage the workload of Najee Harris as they head towards the regular season, and haven't used the third-year RB much in their preseason contests.

Harris has nearly 700 touches since joining the Steelers in 2021, including almost 600 rushes in that span. It is is the most usage of any player in the league during that time, and that can cause a lot of wear and tear on a young running back that the Steelers do not want to add to during meaningless games, according to Dale Lolley of Steelers.com.

“We ran the football quite a bit and now Naj was a big big part of it… but your body can take so much, Canada said. “And so it's been a systematic plan to keep him upright and at the same time getting ready to play and that's a fine balance for everybody.”

In a stark contrast to the last two seasons, he has only touched the rock three times in two preseason games so far, something that offensive coordinator Matt Canada says is intentional, and not a sign of any changes or injury.

“Naj is our 1, there's no doubt about that,” Canada said. “We're protecting him to get him to that point. We're never going to lock ourselves into what it's going to be. I don't think that's fair to anybody. But we're certainly planning on Najee being Najee when we start the regular season.”

Pittsburgh will be looking for another stellar year out of the Alabama product, who has delivered back-to-back 1,000 yard rushing seasons, and added seven touchdowns each year on top of that.

The Steelers head south for their final preseason game on Thursday night at the Atlanta Falcons. Don't expect to see much of Najee Harris in this one either, where the RB will likely play a limited role before bursting back onto the scene in Week 1 against a staunch San Francisco 49ers defense.