Najee Harris Miraculously Cleared to Play After Mysterious Eye Injury from Fireworks – What Really Happened?

Najee Harris is back on the gridiron—and ready to roll. Despite a pesky eye injury from a Fourth of July fireworks mishap that sidelined him from training camp, the Los Angeles Chargers’ powerhouse running back assures he’s set to lace up for the season opener. A heartening recovery, considering Harris has never missed a game in his NFL run, and this could be the first glimpse of him fully unleashed in Chargers colors after a solid 1,043-yard stint with Pittsburgh last year. Slowly but surely, he’s ticking up the gears in practice, preparing to face the Kansas City Chiefs this Friday in Brazil—talk about pressure and a spotlight! His vision, thankfully, remains untouched, with damage described as merely “superficial,” a testament to resilience more than anything else. Head coach Jim Harbaugh’s nod of approval only adds to the mounting excitement. I can’t help but feel a buzz—this season opener might just be the dawn of something big. LEARN MORE

Najee Harris is good to go.

The Los Angeles Chargers running back confirmed on Monday that he plans to play in the team’s season opener despite missing training camp due to an eye injury he sustained in a fireworks incident on the Fourth of July.

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Harris has been slowly working back to full strength at practice in recent days, and said he expects to be available when the Chargers take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil on Friday.

“I’m ramping up to it, yeah,” he said. “Every day at practice, this is probably my fifth day at practice just trying to get back in that football shape. I’m feeling good though, and we’ll just see where it leads.”

Harris didn’t get into details about the incident, and he was wearing sunglasses again when speaking with reporters on Monday. He did say that his vision wasn’t impacted, and that the damage he suffered was “superficial.”

“That whole situation, it just shows you how things could change in just the snap of a finger,” he said, via ESPN’s Kris Rhim. “It’s a blessing every day that we wake up. I’m just happy that everybody’s safe and we’re alive.”

Harris is preparing to enter his first season with the Chargers after he signed a one-year, $5.25 million deal with the franchise this offseason. He ran for 1,043 yards and six touchdowns last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he’s recorded at least 1,000 rushing yards in each of his four seasons so far in the league. Harris has never missed a game in his career.

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Harris was officially cleared to participate in practice on Monday, and head coach Jim Harbaugh said he’s “looked really good” so far. While it’s still unclear what role Harris will play in São Paulo on Friday, he’s finally back at full strength and running with the team again.