PITTSBURGH — Not even a month ago, Najee Harris was at a low point. He'd just been held to a career-low 1.46 yards per carry in a loss in Indianapolis, and after the game Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin called him soft.

The Najee Harris who leads the league in touches since entering the league in 2021, has started his career with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, and has never missed a game in the NFL had an opponent posting that he doesn't run hard enough.

"That's one of those comments, you just laugh it off," said backup running back Jaylen Warren.

Or, if you're Harris, run it off.

"I mean, he talks with his pads," Warren said. "Obviously, it shows."

More than ever lately.

Last week, Harris was literally jumping for joy under the scoreboard at Acrisure Stadium, celebrating with fans in the first few rows of end-zone seats. Not everyone gets to do a Lambeau Leap. But the Pittsburgh Plunge?

"It just happened," said a demure Harris this week. "In-the-moment type stuff."

Harris certainly is living in the moment now, in what could be his last season with the Steelers. About five months before a rival player ripped Harris to the rest of the world, his own team essentially announced their own reservations.

When they declined the fifth-year option for Harris on his rookie contract, the Steelers cast doubt on his future. He's responded with the best season of his career so far, including the past two games in which he's rushed for 100-plus yards back-to-back and averaged 5.9 yards per carry.

"Naj has been awesome," said running backs coach Eddie Faulkner. "With all the outside circumstances that could've impacted the way he acted, he hasn't shown that at all. Because of that, you're able to have a real good vibe in the room."

Part one of Harris putting together the most efficient year of his career to date — his 4.7 yards per touch would be his highest over the course of a full season — is what he did leading up to it. According to Faulkner, he reported to the team in the best shape since he's been a Steeler, "which is saying a lot — because he's never been in bad shape."

But Faulkner noted that Harris cut weight, improved his lateral movements in and out of cuts, and the coaches have been commenting on it all year. At any given day in training camp, you could find Harris running sprints before and/or after practice, and he continues that routine to some extent now in the regular season, too.

"I was just talking to him throughout the whole process, the offseason stuff — we talk a lot," said tight end Pat Freiermuth, the second-round pick behind first-rounder Harris in the team's 2021 draft. "I knew he was gonna be motivated regardless, if they picked [the option] up or not. He came in ready to work. He grinded all offseason."

When the 2023 season ended in the first round of the playoffs yet again, Harris walked out into the cold Buffalo night far from satisfied and unhappy. Six months later he came to Latrobe and tried to tee off on every linebacker pitted against him. He was typically the most animated player on the field in 1-on-1 drills and always the loudest.

Now that it's water under the Hot Metal Bridge, Patrick Queen smiles and nods. Yes, Harris was irritating him to no end in late July and early August.

"It was a long few months," Queen said of a period that really only lasted about a week. "It felt like a long time. But it was worth it."

A Ravens linebacker the first four years of his NFL career, Queen faced Harris both in Baltimore and when they were at LSU and Alabama. They've had plenty of run-ins in the AFC North and SEC.

Instead of playing against him, Queen now is able to sit on the sideline and watch Harris spring a big run. He gets fired up, then goes back to reviewing the film with the defense on the bench, waiting for the next time they hear a defender's pads pop from the impact of No. 22 pushing forward.

"I'm glad I'm on the same team as him," Queen said this week. "He's doing his thing. That's what I keep telling him every single game: 'Just keep bringing your stuff, keep bringing your stuff. Nobody wants to tackle you. You're too big.'

"He's 230 pounds, 6-2, runs however fast as he wants to and is just a physical guy all around. A mean guy. A nasty guy. Whenever he runs like that, nobody wants to deal with that for four quarters. At least I know that."

Or late in the season. Until this two-week tear, Harris had just one 100-yard game before November. Multiple teammates mentioned that they always know Harris delivers in December and January, when the temperature drops and the stakes get higher.

But they're all thrilled that he's hitting his stride earlier in 2024 — in his element and in a rhythm, as left tackle Dan Moore Jr. put it.

"Najee, with his composure, with his demeanor, the way he works day to day, there's no doubt in my mind his game is gonna continue to elevate," Moore said.

Both Faulkner and Freiermuth agreed "for sure" this is the most fun they've seen Harris have in Pittsburgh. Harris himself likely would be loath to admit such a thing. He doesn't particularly care for media interviews or being introspective under the spotlight.

You never quite know what Harris you're going to get away from the field. He can be combative in answering questions or just plain uninterested. He can be engaging, funny and over the top, which sometimes leads to the Steelers editing his press conferences more than the TV version of "GoodFellas." When he opens up, he's usually doing so on someone else, such as his pal Freiermuth getting his own new deal in the offseason.

"Pat, that's the homie. Me and Pat came in together. That's why I was extremely excited to see him get that extension because he was telling me all throughout the process how it was going and stuff like that," Harris said. "Me seeing Pat get that extension, in a way, it was like I got the extension, because Pat is like my brother.

"Seeing him happy, seeing him smiling, seeing him providing for his family is always a good thing. Me and Pat, we've been locked in ever since we got here. We joke around and do things, but that's my brother."

One minute, Harris is challenging a reporter's premise and making the whole scrum uncomfortable. The next minute, he's dropping into a deep baritone, then shifting his voice into a high-pitched squeal to poke fun at a teammate walking by. More often than not, it's the light-hearted antics with Freiermuth.

But all kidding aside, Freiermuth sees Harris playing "really confident and free" in what could be viewed as a pressure-packed year for him. If this is his last lap here, he's sprinting to the finish line.

"He's stepped up big-time," Freiermuth said. "Everything he's been through and has happened here, he's adjusted to everything. He's dealt with adversity really well. Obviously, there are some times in there where the mood went up and down, but I think guys like myself and other guys around the locker room like to mess with him. It's been better for him in the end. He's been great."

(c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.