Seahawks WR Percy Harvin, fully healthy, now able to do a lot “that I wasn’t able to do before”

Here’s a scary thought for opposing NFL defenses: what if the Percy Harvin who was an MVP candidate halfway through the 2012 season, and the Percy Harvin who returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the Super Bowl last year wasn’t the best version of the receiver? What if he’s even faster and more elusive than the player who was already one of the most explosive athletes in the NFL?

Well according to the Seahawks receiver, that will be the case in 2014. After missing almost all of last season following hip surgery, Harvin says he’s feeling better than he has since “maybe before college.”

Harvin said the same thing during offseason workouts, but the fact that he still feels this good after training camp and two preseason games is a very good sign for Seattle’s offense.

Harvin noted that having almost an entire season off allowed his entire body to heal, and also that the hip issue had been affecting other parts of his body such as his hamstrings.

“My legs just feel how they’re supposed to feel,” he said. “It’s very fluid, very smooth, it’s all good… I definitely feel a lot better, I’ve got a lot more motion than I’m used to having, I can do a lot more cuts, just a lot of different things, a lot of motions that I wasn’t able to do before.”

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Harvin’s preseason is that he is practicing nearly every day. During an offseason minicamp, Pete Carroll said they wouldn’t often let Harvin practice more than two consecutive days, and that continued into the early part of training camp, but Harvin has been feeling good and pushing back when training staff wants him to rest.

“We had to go back and forth a couple times on it, because those guys really wanted me to get my rest,” he said. “But after my first two, three days I felt that I was in a rhythm, so I told them I wanted to stay in a rhythm and start putting my practices back-to-back. I was recovering with no problem, as I kept going the legs kept getting fresher and fresher, and right now I’m feeling very, very good where I’m at right now. I’m looking forward to the season.”