By John Boyle
Perhaps more encouraging than Percy Harvin’s return to practice Thursday was the fact that he was back at it a day later. That’s very good news for the Seahawks, who hope to have the receiver on the field for just the second time this season when they host a playoff game on Jan. 11.
“He did fine,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said following Friday’s practice. “He really did fine. He participated in everything today with the exception of the 2-minute drill. He looked and I think he felt pretty good about it. He’s still got a little governor on what he’s doing here, which is the right thing to do, and we’ll come back next week and get after it. We’ll just go one-day at a time, and I expect that he’s going to make some progress. Now that’s barring a setback, but he’s very encouraged and we’re excited for him.”
Asked if Harvin did more than they were anticipating over the last two days, Carroll said, “No, he stayed right on schedule today. He was fine about it. Had he had any issues, we would have pulled him out, but that wasn’t necessary.”
As you might expect, Carroll did not have an answer as to when they’ll make a decision on Harvin. It’s entirely possible Carroll gives a “he’ll be a game-time decision” following Thursday’s practice, then we’ll have to wait until Saturday to find out, though if Harvin is able to practice through next week, that will be a good sign for his chances at playing.
“I can’t tell you that, I don’t know,” Carroll said. “I don’t know what to say about that other than we’ll just keep working until we have more information. We will not rush to the decision at anytime. We’ll just take all the information in and continue to encourage him and be encouraged by his efforts and see what happens. He definitely knows what we’re doing and understands the offense and can execute. He looked really sharp today for not being out there. It’s hard to imagine, but it’s because of the background with Bev and he’s done a good job of staying with the system and keeping up all along.”
On TE Luke Willson, who suffered a high-ankle sprain against St. Louis, Carroll said, “Luke looks really good. He ran today, he was running and weaving and doing some good things. He’s had an ankle sprain just like this before, he’s managed it before. He came out the very next day and said, I’m going to play. He’s really encouraged about it; we won’t know until Wednesday or Thursday next week. We’ll see how he’s doing.
As for linebacker K.J. Wright, who has been out since fracturing a foot against San Francisco last month, Carroll said Wright won’t play in the Divisional round, but has a chance at playing in the NFC Championship should they get there.
“K.J. will not make it back for this game, but the chances of him making it back the next week, if we’re fortunate enough to be playing, is really promising,” Carroll said. “That’s unbelievable that he would be able to do that so soon, but he’s making such progress they think that.”
