As Najee Harris has hit the 1,000-yard mark in each of his first four professional seasons, he was naturally an attractive candidate for Jim Harbaugh when the Los Angeles Chargers opted to revamp the running backs room this offseason.
But another trait the Bolts undoubtedly found attractive was the fact that the Alabama alum didn't miss a single game with the Pittsburgh Steelers due to injury. So, naturally, it's been disappointing that Harris has been on the Non-Football Injury/illness list for the entirety of training camp due to a fireworks mishap on July 4, causing an eye injury.
Harbaugh has never been one to give thorough injury updates when asked, at least not until the NFL requires him to do so, and he was even more non-committal than usual when discussing the status of his new running back on Thursday, simply saying, "When Najee is ready to play, Najee will be ready to play." Never change, Jim, never change.
Chargers now hopeful Najee Harris will play in Week 1 vs. Chiefs
On Saturday, however, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz joined the CBS broadcast of the Bolts' preseason finale against the San Francisco 49ers and offered up a little more than Harbaugh did while opining that Harris may actually be ready to suit up when Los Angeles takes on the rival Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil in Week 1.
"Najee's doing great, going through all the medical processes," Hortiz said. "But he's on track, and I think he should be able to go, hopefully in Week 1."
After sitting out the first few weeks of training camp, Harris began doing some running at practice on August 12. And over the past few weeks, he's been seen working on the sidelines with trainers as he continues to work his way back.
RELATED: Chargers' biggest loser from the preseason is painfully obvious
Given Harbaugh's overall secrecy practices, the Chargers haven't given any details on the extent of the injury. That said, though, after a recent report came out that Harris couldn't even open his right eye, Harbaugh did come out and refute it, confirming that the fifth-year back could indeed do so.
Outside of a picture posted to Snapchat a few weeks back, Harris himself has been pretty secretive about things, wearing either a helmet with a visor or dark glasses during practice so as not to allow anyone to sneak a peek at what's happening underneath.
With 53-man rosters required to be finalized by Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Harbaugh will have to decide by then whether to keep Harris on the NFI list, which would force him to miss the first month of the season. Hortiz clearly doesn't think things will come to that, but we'll just have to wait and see how things play out over the next few days.