Najee Harris, in just his second season with the Steelers, was voted a team captain this year.
On Friday, the running back perhaps showed why.
Harris, on multiple occasions, called out his teammates as he met with the media in an attempt to put an end to, what he says, has been players passing the buck during the team’s 2-5 start.
“We’re close, we’re close. But we need to fix some (expletive),” said Harris.
Harris’ comments came a day after offensive coordinator Matt Canada reaffirmed that the Steelers’ struggling offense is going to turn the corner.
“It is, 100 percent,” Harris added. “Like I said, we need to fix some (expletive) inside (the locker room). I mean that.”
As for what has forced Harris to call out his teammates publicly?
Well, not handling issues internally seems to be one major issue for Harris.
“We talk to each other between the team, rather than to social media," he said. "We see what's going on here as a team, and it's not something that we don't want to talk about towards the media.
“Not like it's anything bad. But if you want to get where we want to be at, if you want to achieve, there needs to be more accountability from each other, as in players. So I think that starts with us.”
Harris indicated that discussions of not airing dirty laundry have taken place behind closed doors.
“The attitude is how men talk to each other," he said. "You could take it bad or you could take it good, but it's only coming from a good place. We don't mean it in any bad way. We're just trying to win games around here. We're trying to come together as a team and turn stuff around. So hearing stuff that you might not want to hear is probably what we need.
“We need accountability on this team from the players. We need to execute more. We need to do to better, rather than just blame other people.”
This experience, for Harris, is admittedly new. Coming from a college program like Alabama, losses were rare, and losing seasons never even came close to occurring. So blame never really had to be shared, and he certainly did not have to play the leadership role the much.
“I’ve had a couple of things here, but like I said, it's a new point in my life, a new chapter,” Harris said. “There's new challenges. I'm glad that I'm here. I'm glad that I'm at this position where there's a lot of adversity and there's a lot of humps and mistakes, but I think that makes good players and good teams.
“This is a process. This is part of the process. This is where we're at right now. We're in our role, in that process where when you come together as a team and capitalize on all the mistakes and hold each other accountable.”
Harris’ comments, though harsh, perhaps needed to be said. And it’s not the first time that something like this has happened. Cornerback Arthur Maulet, following the 38-3 loss in Buffalo four weeks ago, admitted to lashing out at some teammates for their behavior during the lopsided defeated.
“It's easy to be a captain when you’re winning,” Harris said. “It's easy to be a leader. But I think you shouldn't be judged by that. I think you should be judged when you're at this position right now.
“Going out there to practice every day and not pointing the finger is a starting point. Putting your head down to keep grinding and keep chopping wood.
“We got to go into practice every day like we're 0-0. After a win, after a loss, you come in there and it's day one, and you got to start from the bottom, execute the game plan, whatever it is, and make sure you go into practice and execute whatever it is.”
Despite some of the finger pointing that’s gone on, Harris does believe that the team is focused, and that, overall, they’re taking steps to overcome whatever problems may be coming up on or away from the field.
“I think it is,” Harris said of the improving focus. “We do a lot more things after practice. We watch film together as a team. We're going towards the right direction. It’s a start.
“It's not always going to be good. There’s some bad, some negativity, but it's part of the sport.”