Najee Harris Back at Practice, Ready to Go vs. Falcons

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris said he expects to play this Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons after practice at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Thursday.

Harris said that he mostly just required rest for his oblique injury. He participated in practice on Friday after missing the team’s first two sessions of the week.

Harris was injured in the first half of the Steelers’ Week 12 win over the Indianapolis Colts and did not return to the game, and was in fact taken to the hospital in Indianapolis. He said the injury did not happen on a specific play.

“I didn’t even get tackled when I first started feeling it,” Harris said. “The pain just kept getting bigger and bigger.”

Harris said he felt the injury before he scored his first-half touchdown, when he dove over the pile into the Colts end zone.

Benny Snell and Anthony McFarland replaced Harris against the Colts because usual backup Jaylen Warren missed the game with a hamstring injury. Warren is also set to return on Sunday.

“I said y’all are going to have to finish the game,” Snell said he told McFarland and Snell. “This room right here is doing a good job and we’re going to be the backbone of the team and this offense.”

The Steelers have averaged five yards per carry and have six rushing touchdowns over the last four games. They averaged 3.7 yards per carry and had four rushing touchdowns over the first seven games of the 2022 season.

Harris was the Steelers’ first-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and despite multiple injuries, including a Lisfranc sprain in the preseason this year, he has not missed a regular-season game in his time with the Steelers.