RENTON — Percy Harvin is back in action. The return of one of the Seahawks’ fastest players, however, will not be rushed.
“Percy got started today,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, referring to Harvin’s participation in practice as, “Limited involvement.”
“He got out there running around, looked good. He looks quick and ready to take the next step, which is the next time we come back on Thursday. We’re going to do it one day at a time.”
Asked specifically about Monday night’s game in St. Louis, Carroll again said, “Really, we’re going one day at a time. This will be one of those things where I’ll probably say the same thing every time you ask me.”
Even Harvin, who has been sending out optimistic posts on Twitter about his recovery throughout the process, echoed his coach’s sentiment when asked when he might return.
“It’s all day-to-day,” he said. “I want to play as soon as possible, but we all want to be smart in this thing so we put a plan together and we’re just going to take it day by day and see how it feels.”
Yet even if Harvin sits out another game or two, the fact that he was on the field at all Tuesday is pretty remarkable considering what most were expecting when it was announced that he would have surgery to repair a torn hip labrum just before the start of training camp. At the time, the expectation was that Harvin would be fortunate to make it back late in the season or for the playoffs, not play the entire second half.
“At first I was listening to them thinking it could be season ending or the six to eight months that they were thinking,” Harvin said of the speculation. “But after I had prayed on it, and after the surgery, I was already picking my leg up the night after they did the surgery, and I was already riding a bike. So it was no doubt in my mind at that point that I could make a quick recovery, but we just wanted to be smart as we go. So we put a great plan in place and it’s been great so far.”
It hardly comes as a surprise that the Seahawks are being cautious and taking their time with Harvin. Throughout this season, they’ve held players back who might have been able to return a bit earlier, from Cliff Avril and his early-season hamstring injury to Chris Clemons and his knee surgery.
“The thought we’ve been going with all along is to take the conservative approach and make sure our guys are healthy, and so we’re going to continue to do that,” Carroll said.
Whenever Harvin does return, it can’t come soon enough after a rough calendar year for the speedy receiver. Harvin was enjoying one of the best seasons of his career with Minnesota last year, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury against Seattle in Week 9. After a somewhat tumultuous offseason that saw Harvin ask for a trade, he was sent to Seattle for multiple draft picks, including a first-rounder, and signed a massive contract extension that included $25.5 million in guaranteed money.
That trade and contract naturally came with big expectations, but Harvin ended up not even making it to training camp because of the hip injury. While there was some speculation at the time over whether or not he would need surgery, Harvin said the decision ended up being “cut and dry.” Still, it was tough nonetheless knowing a new team and fanbase were expecting big things out of him.
“It was just tough for me just coming to a new team,” he said. “I didn’t know how everybody would perceive it so it was real tough for me to deal with. I really didn’t want to have it, but I knew it was something I needed to get done. It was really tough just being away from the team and being new to the team. They gave me great support and I was able to get through it.”
So now Harvin is one step closer to returning. Just don’t expect an answer any time soon on if he’ll play Monday. That’s day-to-day, remember?
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
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