H
e’s back. On the Fourth of July, Los Angeles Chargers running back, Najee Harris, suffered an eye injury in a fireworks incident. The injury so far has forced him to miss all of training camp and the preseason, which raised questions about his status for the start of the season. At one point, there was a possibility that he would be out for at least the first four games of the regular season.
But on Aug. 27, Harris’ status for the regular season became much clearer and he was taken off of the NFI list. Now available to play in Week One, the Chargers will ramp up Harris’ training so that they can use him in Brazil when the Chargers take on the Kansas City Chiefs to kick off the new season.
Harris’ Status for the Season Opener
After Harris suffered the eye injury, his agent made a statement and said that the injury was considered ‘superficial’ and not serious. But the Chargers organization never disclosed the full extent of the injury and instead placed Harris on the Non-Football Injury/Illness list. Missing all of camp and the preseason games, it opened up an opportunity for rookie Omarion Hampton to take all of the first team reps.
Starting early this month, Harris’ recovery started to really take off, with him walking laps at practice on Aug. 2 and starting Aug. 12, he started working off to the side with a trainer. And while it appeared that Harris would start the season on the NFI and be out at least four games, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz spoke during the final preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers that Harris was ‘on track’ for a Week One return. But just because Harris was activated, does not mean that he will definitely play in Week One. All it really means is that the Chargers do not believe that Harris needs the full four game minimum to recover.
Harris’ Outlook for 2025
A durable player, never missing a game during his four season NFL career, the Chargers brought him in in large part because he provides a consistent presence in the backfield. But the Chargers will also rely heavily on Hampton, and will use both Harris and Hampton in a timeshare that could result in a two-headed monster in the backfield. Hampton, a former standout at North Carolina, figures to take some pressure off of Harris– who was the main workhorse on the Pittsburgh Steelers during his time there.
Harris is a very physical runner and he has also recorded at least 1,000 in each of his first four seasons– the latter of which the Chargers have not had for eight seasons. Now, the Chargers can use Harris more as a situational player so that they can maximize his potential and bring their offense to new heights. Even in an 11-6 season that resulted in their first playoff berth since 2022, the Chargers running game was nothing to write home about– finishing well below the league average in rushing yards per game.
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