Injured Harris practices, says elbow better after treatment
Some athletic tape, a platelet-rich plasma shot and Najee Harris should be good to go.
Well, the star Steelers rookie running back isn’t saying that outright, but it surely sounds as if the right elbow injury that limited him last week against the Ravens won’t cause him to miss the first postseason game of his NFL career.
“The elbow’s doing good,” Harris said Friday after practice, his yellow hood pulled up over his white No. 22 jersey. “I got a little PRP shot in it, so it was sore for a couple days, but it’s feeling better.”
Harris didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, but he returned Friday as a full participant and the Steelers are listing him as questionable for Sunday. He went down on the first series against Baltimore Sunday and didn’t come back in until midway through the third quarter. Part of that was pain tolerance, but logistics were a factor, too.
Adrenaline was pumping, so Harris waited for the injury to “cool down” a bit
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before taking the next steps. Trainers offered him the option of wearing a brace, but Harris couldn’t do it without sacrificing his ability to hold the ball.
“So I was like, ‘ Man, just put some tape on it,’ and I got back in there,” Harris said.
Harris didn’t fumble once this season in a league-high 381 touches, second-most in NFL history and the best mark for a rookie. Now he’ll try to keep that streak going in the postseason against a Chiefs defense that will, almost certainly, make every yard tough on him.
Not that that’s anything new for Harris, coming off his gutsiest effort to date.
“I think he was really effective when he came back,” said Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada. “That certainly says a lot about him as a person and how much of a team player he is — how much he wants to win. He loves to compete, and he loves to win.”
Smith-Schuster update
For the second practice in a row, Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was lifting spirits — and preparing to play at Kansas City.
Smith-Schuster thought his season was finished after a shoulder injury in Week 5, but the Steelers made a surprise move Thursday when they opened the 21-day window for him to be activated from injured reserve. Harris confirmed that Smith-Schuster practiced again Friday.
“Obviously, everybody was pretty energized, asking around if he’s playing,” Harris said. “I don’t know if he’s playing or not — I’m not the coach — but just to see him out there and practicing, obviously that gives a big boost to everybody to have a key player back.”
The Steelers have until 4 p.m. Saturday to add Smith-Schuster to the active roster. That means he wasn’t on the practice report for Friday and thus doesn’t have a questionable or doubtful label. Neither do any other Steelers, as left tackle Dan Moore Jr. (ankle) practiced fully for the third day in a row and right guard Trai Turner (knee) was back after being out Thursday. The Steelers did place backup cornerback James Pierre on the reserve/ COVID-19 list. Pierre is a special teams contributor but
hasn’t played on defense in sixweeks.
For the Chiefs, they’ll be missing running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, ruled out with a shoulder injury. His backup Darrel Williams is questionable with a toe injury but practiced in a limited capacity all week.
Back at home
The Steelers practiced Friday at Heinz Field rather than UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Heinz is where they’ve spent the past two training camps, but in this case it was a chance to get a stadium feel before what will be the first playoff game for most of the players on this roster.
And having a fresh surface that hasn’t been trampled on the past two days couldn’t hurt, either.
“It’s a way better field, first of all,” Harris said. “There aren’t too many people slipping and sliding everywhere. I think that’s the main thing, really. The noise factor, you cansay what you want, but [it was for] us having better footing.”