The sweat dripping from Najee Harris’s face told only half the story as he walked off the practice field Monday afternoon in El Segundo. The eye injury is holding him back. The other half was written in the determination etched across his features—a man who’d spent months battling back from an eye injury that threatened to derail everything he’d worked for since joining the Los Angeles Chargers.

For the first time since a Fourth of July fireworks mishap nearly cost him his vision, Harris was cleared for full contact. The moment carried weight that transcended football. This wasn’t just about making tackles or breaking through defensive lines—this was about a man reclaiming his livelihood after staring down uncertainty.

“I think it’s probably my fifth day at practice, just trying to get back in that football shape,” Harris said, his voice carrying the measured confidence of someone who’d fought through hell to get back to this point. “But I am feeling good though, and we’ll just see where it leads.”

The Long Road Back from Eye Injury

The journey from that terrifying moment during Independence Day celebrations to Monday’s practice field has been nothing short of grueling. Harris missed the entirety of training camp—those crucial weeks when teams gel, when new systems are installed, when careers are often made or broken. While his teammates were grinding through two-a-days in the California heat, Harris was battling a different kind of opponent altogether.

Coach Jim Harbaugh, known for his typically cautious approach to player health, couldn’t hide his relief when discussing Harris’s progress. “There’s a possibility,” Harbaugh said when asked about Friday’s season opener against Kansas City. “He’s looked really good in practice.”

Coming from Harbaugh, that’s practically a ringing endorsement. The coach has seen enough football to know when a player is truly ready, and his measured optimism suggests Harris might have turned the corner at exactly the right moment.

Eye Injury Details Remain Closely Guarded

Harris has been notably protective about the specifics surrounding his eye injury, declining to elaborate on exactly how the fireworks mishap occurred. What he has shared paints a picture of someone who understands how quickly life can change.

“That whole situation, it just shows you how things could change in just the snap of a finger,” Harris reflected, his words carrying the weight of someone who’d genuinely feared for his future. “I’m just happy that everybody’s safe and we’re alive.”

The running back has been spotted wearing shades or a tinted visor during public practices, leading to speculation about the severity of his condition. When pressed about whether he was intentionally concealing the extent of his eye injury, Harris’s response was characteristically direct: he didn’t care what people thought he might be doing.

Perhaps most encouraging for Chargers fans, Harris maintained that his vision wasn’t compromised, describing the damage as “superficial.” For a position that demands split-second decision-making and the ability to spot the smallest gaps in defensive coverage, preserved vision is everything.