INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- With his 237 touches this season, Steelers rookie Najee Harris is now tied with Titans running back Derrick Henry for the most in the NFL.
Fortunately for the Steelers, Harris' final touch in a 41-37 loss here at SoFi Stadium Sunday night to the Chargers didn't end in a catastrophic injury such as the one suffered by Henry three weeks ago when he suffered a season-ending broken bone in his foot.
With the Steelers trailing 34-20 with seven minutes to play, Harris caught a dump-off pass from Ben Roethlisberger and turned to get upfield. As he was being tackled by cornerback Tevaughn Campbell, who went low on him, linebacker Kyzir White came and and delivered a forearm blow to Harris' head as he spun to the ground. The play was not penalized.
Harris spent several minutes in the injury tent with team trainers and an independent neurologist while being checked for a concussion. But he cleared protocols. Harris, however, did not return until the Steelers' final offensive possession, after the Chargers had scored to take their final lead with 2:17 remaining to play.
He did not touch the ball again after that hit, as the Steelers attempted four passes after getting the ball back, with Roethlisberger getting sacked twice and then throwing two incompletions.
Harris finished the game with 12 carries for 39 yards and five catches for an additional 20 yards. The 17 touches were his fewest since a Week 2 loss against the Raiders when he had just 15, while his yardage total was his lowest since he had 49 total yards in a Week 1 win over the Bills.
The Steelers ran the ball just four times in the second half of Sunday night's game as they trailed 17-10 at the half and the Chargers took the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown to extend that lead to 24-10.
"He’s our feature runner. He’s good in the running game. He’s good in the passing game. He’s good in all circumstances," Mike Tomlin said. "Our inability to stop them, or slow them down, really minimized his impact on the game, which is obvious.”
Despite the low totals in this game, Harris became the first rookie in team history to have 1,000 yards from scrimmage in his first 10 games. He now has 1,022.
The Steelers (5-4-1) fell to third place in the AFC North with the loss, a half-game behind the second-place Bengals (6-4). They'll travel to Cincinnati Sunday. After that, they face the first-place Ravens (7-3) at home.
Fortunately for them, Harris appears to be OK. The same cannot be said of interior offensive lineman J.C. Hassenauer.
Hassenauer started this game at left guard in place of Kevin Dotson, who was placed in injured reserve Saturday with a high ankle sprain. But he left in the first half after suffering a pectoral injury. Veteran Joe Haeg replaced Hassenauer for the remainder of the game.
Slot corner Arthur Maulet also was checked for a concussion, but later returned, as did corner Cam Sutton after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from offensive tackle Storm Norton following a diving interception.
That play also was not penalized.
The Steelers played the game without star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and cornerback Joe Haden in addition to Dotson.
Watt, who is dealing with knee and hip injuries, has a good chance to return this week against the Bengals, as does Fitzpatrick, who was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 List last Monday. The Steelers also are hopeful for the return of Haden, who is dealing with a mid-foot sprain.
