Percy Harvin expected back in Seahawks practice, aims for playoff game

RENTON, Wash. – Percy Harvin’s most feared on-field attribute is his shiftiness and ability to stop and start in a flash.

So maybe it makes sense that news of his potential availability for the rest of the season changed in an instant Monday.

After hinting for the past week that the team might put Harvin on the injured reserve list, making him ineligible for the rest of the year, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday that Harvin will return to practice this week with the hope of playing in the team’s playoff game Jan. 11.

“Percy is going to practice with us (on Thursday) with the intention of playing in the next game, and we’ll see what happens,” Carroll said. “It has come to a point where he can go to that and we will keep our fingers crossed for him. He wants to contribute and be part of this team and he is going to do everything he can do, so we will see what happens.”

If Harvin can make it back, the Seahawks offense would get a potentially huge addition for the playoffs.

Harvin, acquired from Minnesota in the offseason for three draft picks, including a 2013 first-rounder, gave a glimpse of what he can do in his only Seahawks action so far, a 41-20 win over the Vikings on Nov. 17. In that game, he made one highlight-reel catch for 17 yards and returned a kickoff 58 yards, each setting up Seattle touchdowns.

He missed the team’s first 10 games after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip. And he has not played since the Minnesota game while battling soreness in his hip.

Carroll cautioned that there are no guarantees that Harvin will play, and that he will have to show he is healthy during practices leading up to the playoff game.

“Right now I’m not even saying day-to-day or week-to-week,” Carroll said.

In a tweet sent shortly after Carroll’s news conference, though, Harvin sounded optimistic it will work out, writing: “12’s see u in two weeks b?& it’s go time again.”