Seahawks notebook: Hip injury has Harvin on PUP

By Danny O’Neil

RENTON – The statement acquisition of Seattle’s offseason is currently a question mark.

Percy Harvin has a hip injury that prevented him from practicing Thursday and will require a second opinion and cause more than a few concerns in the Puget Sound area.

“Right now, we need to get more information,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We don’t know enough right now. We’ll just wait and see. The good part is it’s really early. We have a long time to get him ready.”

The Seahawks aren’t sure whether Percy Harvin’s hip injury will need surgery. (AP)

Carroll pointed out that Harvin was running full speed recently, only to have the soreness that bothered him during the offseason conditioning program crop up again. Harvin was not made available to answer questions, and afterward Carroll was asked if surgery will be necessary.

“It may be,” Carroll said. “We’ll find out. We’re just going to go ahead and do it step by step right now. I know he was working full speed just a few days ago, but we need to take care of him. We’ll take every precaution to do that.”

Take a few deep breaths, Seattle. No reason to panic about the wide receiver the Seahawks acquired this offseason just yet because while Carroll didn’t rule out the possibility of surgery, that’s not a decision that’s imminent either.

And while Harvin was one of six Seahawks on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list when training camp began, that list is a lot worse than it sounds. It means the player – for one reason or another – wasn’t cleared to begin practicing.

Placing the player on the list doesn’t rule him out of anything other than practice. He can be activated at any time before the roster is trimmed to 53 players. At that point, the team must decide to activate him for the regular season or have him miss at least the first six games before reevaluating whether he’s ready.

Harvin is just one of the Seahawks currently in that limbo. Tight end Zach Miller has a sore foot and missed practice. So did running back Robert Turbin (foot), cornerback Tharold Simon (foot), defensive end Chris Clemons (knee) and defensive lineman Greg Scruggs (knee).

Linebacker Korey Toomer, a 2012 fifth-round pick, is on the non-football injury list.

Carpenter cleared

One player who was on the field for practice: guard James Carpenter.

He missed the offseason workouts after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to clean out his left knee, which was surgically repaired after he suffered a torn anterior-cruciate ligament in his left knee midway through his rookie season in 2011.

“It felt great,” Carpenter said. “I’d always rather be out here with my teammates, working with them.”

Does he feel 100 percent?

“Oh yeah,” Carpenter said. “Lord willing, I’ll be 100 percent as long as I play.”

Carpenter is playing left guard, one of two starting jobs that will be sorted out in training camp. Paul McQuistan played left guard for the first-unit line on Thursday while J.R. Sweezy was on the right. Carpenter and John Moffitt are also competing for starting spots.

Hair razing

Defensive end Bruce Irvin shaved off his dreadlocks over the offseason, and Earl Thomas followed suit. The Seahawks’ All-Pro free safety arrived at training camp with his hair cut close, the dreadlocks he has had going back to the University of Texas cut off.

“Hair doesn’t define me,” said Thomas.