Notebook: Seahawks could move Harvin to IR
Dec 24, 2013, 3:54 PM | Updated: Dec 26, 2013, 11:14 am
By Danny O’Neil
RENTON — There’s no change in Percy Harvin’s status with the Seahawks.
At least not yet.
But after stating Harvin wouldn’t practice this week on Monday, coach Pete Carroll was asked Tuesday if the team might make a roster move regarding Harvin this week as he has continued to experience soreness in his surgically repaired hip.
“That may happen,” Carroll said Tuesday.
 Soreness in Percy Harvin’s surgically-repaired hip has held the Seahawks receiver out of action since his lone appearance this season on Nov. 17. (AP) |
That’s not good news for Seattle. At least not as it relates to this season because it presumably translate to Harvin being placed on injured reserve thereby ending his season. Harvin suffered a hip injury in the offseason, which did not respond to treatment. He underwent surgery in August, returned to the practice field before Seattle’s eighth game and made his Seahawks’ debut on Nov. 17 against Minnesota.
He played 16 offensive snaps that game, returned one kickoff and while all signs pointed to a promising return, he was very sore after the game and has not played – or even participated in a full practice for Seattle – since then.
The Seahawks have been very clear Harvin did not reinjure the joint, but rather point to the fact Harvin’s musculature is prone to increasing soreness as he becomes accustomed to how his hip moves post-surgery.
Everything on the line
Seattle will have plenty on the line when it takes the field for Sunday’s regular-season finale as a victory would assure the Seahawks not only the NFC West title, but the top playoff seed from the conference and both the bye and home-field advantage that comes with that. If Seattle loses the game, and San Francisco defeats Arizona, the 49ers would win the division title and the Seahawks would receive a wild-card berth and a road game in the opening week of the playoffs.
The stakes won’t change Seattle’s approach, though.
“We would’ve played this game to the hilt no matter what had happened before,” Carroll said. “So we’re going to try and do it again. We’re not a team that’s going to go ahead and sit down, take a knee and hopefully get through a game. We don’t do that. The fact that there’s something at stake — legitimately — is good for us, and we’ll try to make the most of it.
Everybody would have liked to get it done earlier, but I don’t know that would have been what’s best for us. We’ll find out as we go through this and see how this thing prepares for what’s coming up in the playoffs.”
If Seattle winds up the No. 5 seed in the playoffs it would face a road game against one of three teams. If the Cowboys beat the Eagles in Dallas, the Cowboys would be the No. 4 seed and host the fifth seed. If the Eagles defeat the Cowboys, the winner of the Bears-Packers game would be the No. 4 seed and host the No. 5 side.
If Seattle is the No. 1 seed, it will get a bye the first week of the playoffs and host the lowest remaining seed in the NFC bracket in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Carroll disappointed, compassionate regarding Browner
Coach Pete Carroll was asked about cornerback Brandon Browner, whose indefinite suspension was announced by the league last week. Browner was in his third season with the Seahawks, and this is his second suspension as he missed four games because of a violation of the performance-enhancing drug policy in 2012 and now faces at least a year ban for a substance-abuse violation.
“Disappointed,” Carroll said. “Disappointed for the guy, disappointed for what we had had in motion whenever you lose a guy. And then also, we feel for them. So I mentioned about how the compassion that comes out because ourguy is missing out on being part of something that he loves for whatever reason. We really care for these guys, and our players, they’re very close. So when Richard Sherman looks across and B.B.’s not there, it means something to him. Those guys have kind of grown up together as Seahawks. So we’re disappointed for them, and then also, we’re very compassionate.”
Note
• CB Walter Thurmond returns from a four-game suspension this week, and he’s eligible to practice this week with a roster exemption. If he is to play in Sunday’s regular-season finale, he must be added to the 53-man roster by Saturday in order to be eligible to play. Carroll has offered a clear for how much, or when, Thurmond might play.
