‘No One Else’: Najee Harris Details Struggles, Takes All Blame

PITTSBURGH — Najee Harris is having a season to forget. The star second-year running back was hoping to take the leap to become a Top-10 running back, but instead, it has been a season with more talk about Jaylen Warren than Harris overall. However, Harris will not put any blame on anyone other than himself.

Even though Harris has not had a strong offensive line blocking for him and most teams are keyed in on the running back, Harris is willing to be the fall guy for not only his struggles but the run game’s struggles, too. Nothing has come easy for Harris, but as a young leader, it is a mature decision to take.

“I mean there’s always someone you got to blame,” Harris said. “If I’m that person, I got to blame myself. Or if you want to blame me, I’ll be here, all for it. I’m not going to blame anybody else other than me, even if it’s an eleven-man sport. But if there’s any fingers to point, you can point them at me in all ways, forms, or fashions. I can handle it. It comes with the sport, it comes with being that person, and even comes with the status you have.”

The struggles for Harris are nothing new. Even at lower levels, there have been times that Harris has struggled. But what might be new for Harris is the panic around him from fans and the media. His teammates have repeatedly backed up his ability to turn it around and get things going, and that is what Harris is more focused on at this point.

“It’s nothing I haven’t experienced before in my life,” Harris said. “This isn’t the first time that I’ve been going through this. To you all, it might, be because I’m in just my second year here, so you all barely know me, but I mean it’s the first time here. I take it with a grain of salt. Keep pushing, keep practicing.”

Harris admits he may take too much blame internally at times. While it is great to take the blame for his teammates, some of it might get into Harris’ head and lead to a downward spiral. That is something that Pittsburgh can not have happen to their young running back. In a rare moment of honesty, Harris did admit that he might internalize a bit too much blame.

“Do I? Maybe,” Harris said. “But God gives his most challenges to the strongest soldiers.”

Pittsburgh will hope to help Harris to a better second half after a rough first half to the season. If Pittsburgh as an offense wants to take a step up, Najee Harris might just be the key to unlocking some potential.