Pro Football Rumors
July 14: Harris avoided a significant injury, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, but he may not be ready for the start of Chargers training camp on Thursday. Rapoport said that Harris “will be on the field sooner rather than later,” adding that his availability for the start of the season is not under question.
Missing a few early practices is unlikely to affect Harris’ status in the Chargers’ running back room, but it will afford Hampton the opportunity to take RB1 reps in his absence.
July 10: Chargers running back Najee Harris was injured during a Fourth of July fireworks accident, according to Rick Hurd, Nate Gartrell, and Darren Sabedra of The Mercury News. The running back’s agent, Doug Hendrickson, released a statement assuring that his client only suffered superficial injuries and will be good to go for the 2025 campaign.
“Najee Harris was present at a 4th of July event where a fireworks mishap resulted in injuries to several attendees,” Hendrickson said in his statement (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). “Najee sustained a superficial eye injury during the incident, but is fully expected to be ready for the upcoming NFL season.”
There were a handful of recent online rumors surrounding Harris and a fireworks incident. Fortunately, many of those rumblings proved to be overblown, as the veteran RB apparently managed to avoid a serious injury. According to The Mercury News, other individuals were hurt in the accident, although the severity of those injuries hasn’t been revealed.
Of course, any fireworks incident will bring back memories of Jason Pierre-Paul, who suffered a serious hand injury during a 2015 accident. That incident required the pass rusher to have his right index finger amputated. To JPP’s credit, the defender played another nine seasons following that injury.
After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Steelers, Harris joined the Chargers this offseason. The RB hasn’t necessarily lived up to his first-round billing, although he has managed to top 1,000 rushing yards in each of his four NFL seasons. Harris is expected to lead the RB room in 2025, although the Chargers did use a first-round pick on North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton.
