RENTON, Wash. – From the time Percy Harvin announced he needed hip surgery, the Seattle Seahawks avoided being overly optimistic about when their new offensive star might get a chance to be back on the field.
More than 2½ months after the labrum in Harvin’s hip was repaired, the Seahawks got a glimpse Tuesday of a possible addition to a team that’s already leading the NFC with a 6-1 record when the dynamic receiver returned to practice.
It was an extra practice for the Seahawks, coming off a weekend of rest following last Thursday’s win over Arizona. But it was a significant day for Harvin.
“It’s all day to day. I want to play as soon as possible, but we all want to be smart in this thing,” Harvin said. “We put a plan together and we’re just going to take it day by day and see how it feels.”
Harvin was limited in his first day catching passes from Russell Wilson since organized team activities back in June. Seattle is remaining cautious about when Harvin will finally see the field. No one has said if he’ll play next Monday at St. Louis, but at least for now he hasn’t been ruled out either.
If there could be any additional buzz for a team already off to its best start in franchise history, Harvin provided it.
“We’re going to go one day at a time,” coach Pete Carroll said. “This will be one of those things where I’ll probably say thing every time you ask me, so you can keep asking if you want.”
Nearly an entire calendar year has passed since Harvin last played in a game. He didn’t play after Week 9 last season when he injured an ankle while playing for Minnesota against Seattle. His offseason trade to the Seahawks — which cost Seattle three draft picks, including its 2013 first-round selection — was a move to bolster an already potent offense.
And then everything was delayed. Harvin was a spectator for the opening days of training camp, and after meeting with a specialist in New York, underwent surgery in early August. The decision to have the surgery was fairly obvious, Harvin said. A bone was impacting the labrum in his hip and causing pain beyond just doing football activities.
But Harvin didn’t want his first impression with his teammates being him hobbling around recovering from an injury.
“It was tough for me coming to a new team and I didn’t know how everybody would perceive it,” Harvin said. “It was 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 tough being away from the team, being new to the team. They gave me great support and I was able to get through it.”
Harvin said he was originally told the recovery would take six to eight months, meaning he would have missed most, if not all of the season. Harvin is far ahead of that timetable and now is in the process of getting his timing back on the field.
He worked out with Wilson at the team’s facility on Monday and the duo were the final two off the practice field Tuesday.
“I haven’t had any setbacks. I’m running pretty good, cutting pretty good, doing all the things I was doing previously,” Harvin said. “It’s just getting in the grind, getting the practices in and getting in the meetings and all of those things and I’ll be ready to go.”
NOTES: WR Golden Tate did not finish practice, Carroll said, still sore in his neck and shoulder from last Thursday’s game. … FB Derrick Coleman is expected to be out four to six weeks with a hamstring injury. … Carroll said they expect FB Michael Robinson, who re-signed with the team Tuesday, to play next Monday in St. Louis.
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