Steelers RB Najee Harris nonparticipant on day two of mandatory minicamp after absence on day one
How does it go? "Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, same on you." Well after missing day one of mandatory minicamp with an excused absence, there was cause for pause, but it made sense to take Mike Tomlin's comments at face value. But after Harris showed up to Pittsburgh and didn't practice […]
How does it go? "Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, same on you."
Well after missing day one of mandatory minicamp with an excused absence, there was cause for pause, but it made sense to take Mike Tomlin's comments at face value.
But after Harris showed up to Pittsburgh and didn't practice on day two, eyebrows need to be raised, even if Mike Tomlin says otherwise.
Mike Tomlin Says Najee Harris' lack of participation is no big deal
"Not an issue whatsoever regarding health," Coach Tomlin told ESPN's Brooke Pryor when asked about Najee Harris not practicing at mandatory minicamp. "You guys know my approach. Cam Heyward didn't take any snaps today either, to use another example. I know a lot about some of those guys and less about some of these others, and so I look to focus my energies on those that are working and not those I'm moving out of the way sometimes in order to see others."
You don't have to put on your tinfoil hat to see something isn't adding up here. Prior to his excused absence yesterday, Harris was in Pittsburgh for the duration of organized team activities, though he has yet to speak to the media since his fifth-year option was declined in early May.
So one of three things is going on in my opinion. Either the Steelers are protecting Harris from saying something he would regret or that's disparaging to the team, (which he has a history of) he has an actual injury, or he is refusing to participate because of his contract situation.
But the latter is the trickiest. We have seen players stage "hold-ins" during recent years as they report to camp and don't practice as they await a new deal. And for Harris, you could see how that would be the case as he now enters the final year of his rookie deal.
But unlike Cam Heyward to use Coach Tomlin's example, there is no history of previous extensions to suggest that the Steelers value Harris beyond his rookie deal like there is with Heyward. In fact, it's the opposite as the team literally declined a chance to have Harris for an extra year on a cost-efficient salary.
So to think that "holding-in" would be used as a strategy to gain leverage doesn't make a lot of sense if Pittsburgh is pushing the narrative that they want to see what Harris looks like in new OC Arthur Smith's offense before committing to him beyond 2024.
This sets up the third and final day of minicamp on Thursday to be telling. If Harris sits again, we obviously have a situation on our hands that will need to be monitored when training camp begins in late July.
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