Najee Harris injury situation takes center stage with other key Chargers observations from practice session in Brazil
Chargers had a practice in São Paulo.
SÃO PAULO — The Los Angeles Chargers are already in São Paulo and practiced on Wednesday afternoon ahead of their regular season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night, in Brazil. Quarterback Justin Herbert and head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke to the media before practice.
The atmosphere in Brazil is certainly much different than a regular Los Angeles game, but the Chargers are excited about this unique opportunity to help expand the NFL brand. Here are four observations from practice.
Najee Harris is good to go
After suffering an eye injury in a fireworks incident on the Fourth of July, the running back is healthy enough to play. Head coach Jim Harbaugh confirmed that Harris is able to practice and will play on Friday. How much, however, remains to be seen. The Chargers have two other half backs on the 53-man roster in rookie Omarion Hampton and Hassan Haskins, so it’s possible that Harris will have a limited workload while ramping up after missing a significant part of training camp.
Big stage
It’s the second NFL game ever in Brazil, a standalone Friday night game, and a huge divisional matchup with the Chiefs to open the season. It doesn’t get much bigger than that for a Week 1 game, and Harbaugh is aware of what it means for the franchise.
“To be in this game, this second game of the NFL season, Friday night game, big stage, there’s an honor there to be selected to play in this game,” Harbaugh mentioned. “That really overshoots any home game aspect of it. At its core, this is a big game to us. This is huge. You want to start off your season on the right foot. We prepared ourselves. We’ve been working very, very hard for this game. We’re ready to have that pay off with a great performance on Friday night.”
Allen and McConkey are creating their connection
Over the past few years, Keenan Allen has primarily played in the slot. Now that he’s back with the Chargers, it creates interesting dynamics with Ladd McConkey, who’s also a slot-first player. We’re yet to see how it will work on the field, but the two receivers are making sure that they create a strong connection.
In the few minutes of practice open to the media, both offensive weapons were working together, talking, and establishing an off-the-field relationship.
Excitement for the game
Jim Harbaugh talked about a previous visit to Peru, making this work trip to Brazil and a return to South America a special opportunity. Quarterback Justin Herbert said this is his first time in South America, an experience he’s excited to go through, but that doesn’t matter as much as facing the Chiefs in an impactful game for the AFC West standings.
“We have to be at our best,” Herbert stressed. “We understand we’re going to lose some time to travel. We’re making sure we’re watching as much film as we can.”
The Chargers play the Chiefs at 5 p.m. PT (9 p.m. Brazilian time) on Friday. The game at Arena Corinthians will be streamed for free to the entire world via YouTube.
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