The Seattle Seahawks came out of the bye week with a massive matchup with the New Orleans Saints coming up believing they would have Percy Harvin fully ready to go after making his debut against the Minnesota Vikings two weeks earlier.
Harvin’s hip had other ideas and kept him from practicing at all last week before being held out against the Saints Monday night.
However, head coach Pete Carroll says Harvin is back on track and is progressing again toward getting back on the field for the Seahawks.
“I’ve already heard from the trainers this morning,” Carroll said Tuesday on his radio show on 710 ESPN Seattle. “Percy came in jacked up. He had a little procedure done last week that made a difference.”
“He feels really good this morning and we’re looking forward to a really good week. We’ll see what happens.”
Though Carroll didn’t specify the procedure Harvin underwent, it’s likely in reference to the cortisone injection Harvin reportedly had this weekend.
Harvin suited up for the first time against the Vikings, his former team, in Week 11 and played 21 plays for Seattle - 19 on offense and two on special teams. Harvin caught one pass for 17 yards and returned a kickoff 58 yards in his only two touches of the game. However, Harvin’s surgically repaired hip continued to be sore after the game and just didn’t dissipate last week enough for Harvin to get back on the field.
“It was just the load that hit that repaired area,” Carroll said. “There is no issues. Nothing is re-injured or anything like that. It just took him a couple of weeks to get back from it”
It’s been just over four months since Harvin had surgery to repair his injured hip. He’s been able to play in just one game for Seattle after being the season on the physically unable to perform list. The issues Harvin is experiencing now appears to be just managing the lingering soreness from the surgery. If there is no structural damage, as Carroll insists, it doesn’t seem as though there is anything that will cause further damage. As soon as the pain has subsided, the Seahawks won’t hesitate to get him back on the field.
“I’m hoping he gets a chance to play because he wants to play so bad,” Carroll said. "...There’s nobody that wants to get out there more and he’ll do everything he can possibly do. He’s done that. He’s done a marvelous job of rehabbing to get to this point. It’s been frustrating but he’s going to pop out now. He’s going to pop out of this thing and he’s going to be ready pretty quick and we’ll welcome him back when he gets in.”
Considering the performance Seattle’s offense had against the Saints without him, the Seahawks could become an even more prolific offense when Harvin is back on the field and causing matchup nightmares for opposing defenses. With home-field advantage almost in hand already, the Seahawks could be close to unbeatable in the playoffs.