Steelers' New Linebacker Elandon Roberts Had Choice Words For Najee Harris After He Believed He Quit On A Play

The Pittsburgh Steelers' had an eventful second day of training camp on Friday, tensions were high between the offense and defense after the offense won the "seven-shots" period to start the practice. This tension could be seen in an exchange between running back Najee Harris and linebacker Elandon Roberts, who is entering his first season with the Steelers. The exchange was originally reported by Steelers' insider Mark Kaboly on The Athletic. 

Steelers' Roberts And Harris Exchange Words

The tense interaction between Harris and Roberts occurred when Harris was given the ball on a stretch run to the right side of the field, what looked like a run that would be a decent gain turned into a very small gain for the offense as Roberts was able to scrape across the formation and force Harris out of bounds. While Roberts was able to read the play really nicely, he felt Harris gave himself up. To this Roberts had some choice words for Harris, which were originally reported by Kaboly. 

"You better pick up your ****** head!" 

What's the classic saying? Iron sharpens iron? It looks like we will get a lot of that during this year's training camp. With George Pickens and Joey Porter Jr. going at each other on Friday as well as the Harris and Roberts exchange, it's easy to tell the offense and defense aren't taking anything lightly during practices this year. Fans around the NFL have been extremely critical of Harris since he entered the NFL in 2021, despite him running behind a below-average offensive line and operating within an extremely limited offense and still managing to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons. It seems Roberts has seen these criticisms, and is trying to motivate Harris to improve. 

Roberts was originally selected by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL draft. He spent four seasons there and won two Super Bowls. Roberts has been around winning and successful teams, and was coached by one of the best to ever do it in Bill Belichick. He is certainly going to bring that winning mentality to Pittsburgh, and he has already began to be a leader by coaching up other players as he did with Harris. Roberts started a few games for the Patriots during his rookie year in 2016, and then was a consistent starter for them for the next 3 seasons while also being named their defensive team captain in 2019. 

Roberts then went on to play for the Miami Dolphins in 2020 and played for the team through the 2022 season. He recorded a career high in combined tackles in 2022 with 107 while also recording four-and-a-half sacks. His performance with Miami during the 2022 season caught the eyes of the Steelers' front office, as they signed him to a two-year contract following the 2022 season. The Steelers' have had trouble at the inside linebacker position over the last few seasons, and revamped the linebacker room this off-season by signing Roberts as well as Cole Holcomb. 

Although Roberts seemingly called out Harris on Friday, it's certain he was just trying to motivate the young running back so the team can see more success on the offensive side of the ball. Harris has been successful throughout his first two years in the NFL having not missed a game in his two year career, and eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark in each season while being a big part of the passing game. Harris has been the recipient of over 40 passes each year, and has scored 10 combined touchdowns in each campaign since entering the NFL. 

It's still early in training camp, and the team hasn't even put on the pads yet and fireworks are already flying for the Steelers. I'm sure this instance between Roberts and Harris won't be the last feud you hear about in Latrobe. 

What do you think about Roberts and Harris exchanging words Steeler Nation? Let us know in the comments below!

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