PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Najee Harris is firm on the belief their issues are not with the coaching staff nor the play calling, as he sees what is being reported and otherwise stated out there. Najee said it’s about a team attitude and it’s something they met about to discuss.
“The mentality we need to play with is the mentality that we had last year against the Ravens in the last game,” Harris said Wednesday. “We did not play with that mentality last week, truthfully, I’m being honest with you guys. I was frustrated about that do just looking at film. Our mentality as an offense wasn’t good at all.”
“I know that. I think we all know that. We all know that we need to get better if we want to be at. It’s going to be a physical game. This is a good time to get this back.”
In that game at Baltimore on New Year’s Day, won by the Steelers 16-13, Harris rushed for 111 yards, Jaylen Warren for 76, besting the Ravens by 78 yards on the ground. That is what Harris believes gets them out of this inconsistency, 41 run attempts, like last season, with a physical mentality.
Harris admits he’s been frustrated. He feels like he can do more for the team and wants the ball. He currently leads the Steelers with 210 yards rushing as the team has rushed for only 315 with no touchdowns.
He understands the bigger picture that it’s a long season, but says he’s a competitor and wants to make an impact. He said the offense is better when they are running the ball and controlling the box. Harris said regardless if he or Warren are getting opportunities, it’s part of who the Steelers are and it opens up a lot for the offense.
“The coach is only the coach, at the end of the day we got to do what we have to do,” Harris said. “I see everybody talking about this coaching stuff about play calling. Do you all know how football works?”
“Coaches can only can coach, we have to execute plays. We are not trying to point the finger at all. We have to execute at the end of the day no matter who is calling plays. I honestly say we are not doing that right now. It has nothing to do with coaches, we have to play better.”
Harris said if anyone is to point fingers it needs to be at themselves.
“It’s the man in the mirror really,” Harris continued. “This is the NFL, everyone runs the same damn plays. Everybody disguises it differently, but it’s just how we are going to play it. Truthfully, I think we are not playing with that edge right now and that’s what we need to do better.”
“I’m someone who wants to spark an offense, I don’t like saying it, I like showing it. I try to be that guy and show it. Right now, we are playing soft.”
“We were not making plays. I try to be that guy that you can feed off me. This game (Sunday), it’s a challenge to see who else will be that person. There has to be more people. The challenge for the receiver room to have that guy. The O-line room have that guy. The tight end room have that guy. We have to do that, especially in this conference.”
Harris is taking accountability and wants others to do the same. He backs what Mike Tomlin said about the team being soft. How will this team react hosting the Ravens on Sunday?