Najee Harris believes Steelers offense ‘needs more accountability from the players’

Like his head coach and his offensive coordinator, Najee Harris believes the Pittsburgh Steelers offense is “about to turn the corner.”

“Yeah, we close,” Harris said after practice Friday, “but we need to fix some (stuff).”

And that, um, stuff that Harris believes needs to be fixed, it sounds like it does not include the coaching staff or play calling.

“If we want to get where we (want to go), if we want to achieve what we want to achieve, there needs to be more accountability from each of us as players,” the Steelers’ starting running back said. “So it starts with us.”

In speaking for almost five minutes Friday, Harris did not mention offensive coordinator Matt Canada (or anyone else, for that matter) by name. But he did make multiple subtle references to outside criticism.

“We are trying to come together as a team and turn stuff around,” said Harris, who in his second season is the only starter who is a captain from the offense, “so hearing stuff that you might not want to hear is probably what we need. We need accountability from this team from the players, we need to execute more, we need to do better rather than just blaming other people. And I think that starts with us.”

Najee Harris on the offense being close to branding out pic.twitter.com/hzipfGju3y

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) October 28, 2022

The Steelers rank 30th in the NFL in yards gained per game and 31st in scoring. They are 27th in rushing yards per game, 24th in passing yards per game, 28th in rushing yards per attempt, 26th in net passing yards per attempt and dead last in yards per play overall at 4.8.

Among 53 qualifying rushers, Harris ranks 52nd in yards per carry at 3.3.

“I hadn’t (ever) dealt with a couple things here (that he’s dealing with now), but it’s a new part of my life, new chapter, new challenges,” Harris said. “I am glad that I am here, I am glad that I am in this position where there is a lot of adversity and a lot lumps and mistakes.

“It’s a process. It’s part of the process. This is where we are at right now, we are at that road in the process, when we come together as a team and capitalize on all the mistakes and hold each other accountable. But I wouldn’t take back anything. I like where I am at. Just got to learn, it’s part of the process. It’s not always going to be good, some bad, some negativity, but it’s part of the sport.”

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