Steelers RB Najee Harris has been playing with steel plate in his shoe

When it comes to limiting a power running back, you’ve heard of the Steel Curtain. But what about a steel plate?

Pittsburgh Steelers featured back Najee Harris played the first five games of the season with one of those in his left foot, Harris said Friday. Harris suffered a foot injury during the first padded practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College on Aug. 1, missed three weeks of practice and has been off to an unproductive start to the regular season.

“I got put a steel plate in my shoe, so that kind of prohibits me from doing certain things,” Harris said after practice Friday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “But I just took (the plate) out… two days ago. So (the foot) has gotten a lot better is what I am trying to say.

“Yes, I did miss a long training period, I was out just recovering, so obviously with a lot of new guys in the o-line, I hadn’t gotten time to work with them yet. So yeah that is a reason (for early-season struggles). But I am not going to blame it all on that. Accountability is something I like to take seriously. … (Injuries are) part of the sport.”

Headed into his team’s Week 6 game Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Harris ranks 37^th in the NFL in rushing with 222 yards. Among 48 qualifying ballcarriers (35 or more attempts), Harris ranks 46^th in yards per carry at 3.2.

The advanced analytics are even less flattering to Harris. The NFL’s Next Gen Stats compute that Harris has rushed for negative-72 yards above expected this season, by far the worst in the league. His minus-1.06 rush yards above expected is also at the bottom of the list of the league’s runners.

Pro Football Focus grades Harris 29^th among the 31 NFL rushers with the most carries. He’s also 29^th of 31 in average yards after contact per attempt (2.48).

Harris entered Week 4:

-2nd-worst in Rush Yards Over Expected
(by @NextGenStats)
-19th (of 28) graded RBs
-24th in yrds after contract
-3rd-fewest forced missed tackles
-2nd-lowest long run
(by @PFF)
-22nd or 24th in @fboutsiders most comprehensive statshttps://t.co/RxnXRUdzIa

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 30, 2022

Coach Mike Tomlin on Tuesday referenced Harris’ injury as an explanation for Harris’ early-season lack of production.

“He missed some time in team development,” Tomlin said, “and that may be a component of him finding or not finding rhythm.”

As a rookie No. 24 overall draft pick last season, Harris led the NFL in touches and was fourth in rushing yards (1,200) and yards from scrimmage (1,667). This season through five games, Harris hasn’t topped 89 yards from scrimmage and has bettered 16 receiving yards only once — all while the Steelers have limped out to a 1-4 record.

“My mindset with all this stuff is, man, just keep persevering,” Harris said. “Everybody is fighting their own battles, and obviously we are not doing good. But we all have to understand and I have to understand, too — bad things are gonna happen. Nobody wants to deal with bad, nobody wants bad to happen, but it’s part of the sport, it’s part of adversity too.

“Me being who I am and the expectations, first rounder, all this stuff, my mistakes tend to be bigger. So I have to understand that. I face all of it, head up, chin up high and I get back to work every day at practice. Stuff is gonna happen, it’s part of the sport, it’s persevering. I can’t think of one athlete who didn’t struggle with something. This is our time to get over this adversity.”

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