Pete Carroll: Percy Harvin’s availability still up in the air
Jan 6, 2014, 10:51 AM | Updated: 11:39 am
By Brady Henderson
Percy Harvin’s availability is as uncertain as it was last week when he practiced for the first time in seven weeks.
“He looked very good last week,” coach Pete Carroll said of wide receiver Percy Harvin, who returned to practice for the first time in seven weeks. (AP) |
What’s certain is that the wide receiver will practice again this week as he attempts to return in time for the Seahawks’ divisional-round playoff game against New Orleans. That was the word from coach Pete Carroll, who told 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Danny” on Monday that while Harvin fared well enough last week to continue practicing, his status for Saturday’s game is still very much up in the air.
“We’ll see what happens,” Carroll said. “He’s got a lot of hard days here this week to see if he can make it through it. He looked very good last week. There was no indications that he wouldn’t at that point. So the accumulation of the days and the workload, we need to see how that wears on him. It’s still delicate in a sense, and he’s going to go ahead after it as best he can.”
Reading the tea leaves on Harvin’s status in the absence of definitive statements from Carroll can be a fruitless endeavor. After all, it sounded like Harvin was bound for the injured reserve based on comments Carroll made last week on 710 ESPN Seattle. Hours later, Carroll told reporters that Harvin would practice later in the week for the first time since making his Seahawks debut on Nov. 17.
At any rate, though, the fact that the Seahawks are planning on Harvin practicing this week is another encouraging sign for his potential availability. Acquired in an offseason trade with Minnesota, Harvin missed Seattle’s first 10 games after undergoing offseason hip surgery, made his one and only appearance with the Seahawks in Week 11 and then was sidelined because of lingering soreness.
Harvin practiced Thursday and Friday before Seattle took the weekend off. Because the Seahawks had a first-round bye, they weren’t required to submit a practice report indicating the extent to which players participated. Carroll though, said that Harvin was limited on Thursday and took part in everything but the 2-minute drill on Friday.
When asked about how many snaps Harvin would see Saturday if he does play, Carroll said it’s too early to tell.
“I don’t know that yet. I’m just guessing. I’ll just wait and see,” he said. “If he’s playing, he’s playing is the way I’m looking at it, and it’s the way he’s looking at it as well. He just wants to go. We’ll see if we make it through the week and if it works out right and he catches the balls in practice and runs good routes and all that stuff, then it’ll help our decision to see how much he can play.”
Follow Brady Henderson on Twitter @BradyHenderson.