The Los Angeles Chargers had their offensive plans derailed on July 4 when running back Najee Harris injured his eye in a fireworks accident.
Fortunately for Los Angeles, Harris will be alright. His agent, Doug Hendrickson, was quick to downplay the running back's ailments and suggested he'd be back for Week 1. Even so, the incident was an unexpected speed bump in the ramp-up to NFL action.
With some questions unanswered about Harris' status, general manager Joe Hortiz spoke about how the Chargers are handling the situation.
Harris remains at Stanford as recovery continues
Hortiz said on Wednesday that Harris is set to land on the NFI list, although he remained open-minded about his plans for the summer.
"The plan is to probably put him on NFI, but nothing is set in stone," Hortiz said, via Daniel Popper.
The Chargers can take him off the NFI list when he's cleared to practice. That could keep him ready for Week 1, although if he remains on the NFI when the roster shrinks to 53 players, he'll have to miss the first four games of the season.
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For now, Harris will stick with Stanford's doctors -- who treated him on July 4 -- rather than the team's. It isn't immediately clear how long Harris will be away from the practice field.
"We felt like, hey, you're there with those doctors, they're great, get everything cleared up there," Hortiz said. "Because we could have brought him back here, but let's take care of the medical part with the experts up there, and our doctors know them well and are highly complimentary of those doctors. Stanford doctors are going to be pretty good. So we feel like he's in the best hands right now."
In the meantime, first-round rookie Omarion Hampton figures to get an even greater shot at winning (and running with) the starting job. Harris was always going to be at a disadvantage given the capital invested in each back, but losing out on time to adjust to the new offense and develop chemistry with the offensive line stacks the odds against him.
Harris has logged 1,000 yards in each of the first four seasons of his career. He's never posted fewer than 255 carries or six touchdowns. His consistency can add to a Los Angeles run game that ranked 27th in success rate a season ago, but with a potential late start to training camp, it seems increasingly likely that Harris will play second fiddle in the backfield.
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