This is now the second time Percy has been ill since being drafted by the Vikings. I hope it’s not a sign of things to come in the future. I don’t remember Harvin missing any time with the Gators because of an illness or flu. Someone needs to shoot him up with some Vitamin C and flush all that bacteria out of his system.

“The great news in the training room today, it’s very positive, very positive, a lot of thumbs up, including from the player, a big thumbs up, a smile on his face,” Meyer said. “He’s as competitive a human being as I’ve ever been around. He’s doing everything he can possibly do, and our training staff’s the best in college football. That’s all positive.

“The negative is it’s a sprained ankle, and we know what sprained ankles mean. We’re going to boot him and he will not do anything until later in the week.”

ESPN.com brought up an important note from two years ago that I wasn’t even thinking of. Percy got banged up against FSU then and still played in the SEC Championship.

Harvin was in a similar situation two years ago. He was knocked out of the game in Tallahassee after slamming his head into a linebacker’s knee. But he was back on the field the following week in Atlanta and earned most valuable player honors against Arkansas in the league title game.

He ran six times for 105 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 62 yards and a score.

“He plays well in this game,” Meyer said. “He made that very clear to me a couple thousand times in the last two days. I love him.”

I hope Percy has a strong and quick recovery. I know Meyer will only use him if he’s ready to go.

From GatorZone.com:

Harvin rushed for a career-high 167 yards and tied a career high with two rushing touchdowns in UF’s 56-6 win over No. 24 South Carolina. His 167 rushing yards versus the Gamecocks were the most by any wide receiver in the nation this year against a top-25 program. Harvin’s performance on the ground against USC propelled him to the third spot in the UF record books for rushing yards in a season by a wide receiver with 476 in 2008, and now owns the top three spots for that record. Harvin scored on an career-long 80 yard rush on the first play of the second half and now has scored a touchdown in the past 12 games he has played in, tying Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree for the longest streak in the country.

Harvin leads the Gators with 476 rushing yards in 2008 on 52 carries and seven touchdowns. Four of his seven receiving touchdowns have come in his last 14 catches. He leads the SEC in scoring with 9.3 points per game.

With two regular season games left, there is still time for Percy Harvin to get on a roll. I doubt he’ll play much vs. Citadel this weekend, but if he can put up 150+ yards and have another big 70+ yard run/catch, then he may grab himself another honor.

When I look at Percy Harvin’s stats this season, sure his touchdown numbers are good, but his yardage isn’t that great. There have only been a handful of plays where Percy has taken it the distance. The Gators need to focus on getting him the ball in space so he can use his speed to break free.

There’s no doubt that last years debacle against UGA is in the minds of Harvin and all the Gator players. A picture of the “Gator Stomp” hangs in their locker room everyday as a reminder. But standout slotback Percy Harvin told reporters over the weekend his team would not pull a similar stunt.

“That’s not our style,” Harvin said. “When teams do that, they expect not to score. We plan on putting points on the board, so we don’t need that. We don’t celebrate here. We go hug a big man and thank the people that got us in the end zone.”

I’ll have more of a game breakdown later this week.

Percy was missed in the passing game, evidenced by Tim Tebow only throwing for 137 yards. However, it looks like the Gators might not need to use Percy as much in the backfield in 2008. Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps, and Brandon James all played lights out in the running back position.

Percy fans shouldn’t worry just yet. He is still their best player and offensive weapon. When Percy is on the field, defenses have to respect him, that’s not necessarily the case when these other young RBs are playing. Percy shouldn’t lose his job just because of an injury. Once he gets back on the field, he’ll be the go to man.

As Gator fans, we all want to see Percy on the field opening day, but if we think about the long term it may not be what’s best for Percy. The Gators should destroy the Hawaiian Warrior Rainbows with or without Percy. If he’s only 80%, it might be best to let him sit out a game or two before we start the SEC Schedule.

I just find this whole situation weird… like maybe we don’t know the full truth. All summer the word was that Percy was looking great and was ahead of schedule. And now that practice has starting, his situation has done a complete 180. What gives?

Some encouraging news from UF on behalf of WR/RB Percy Harvin, who hasn’t had a full practice this preseason thanks to a nagging heel injury.

Coach Urban Meyer said Harvin went through conditioning drills Thursday and is “real close” to returning.

Does that mean he’ll practice this week?

“We’ll find out,” Meyer said.

This is an improvement from what Meyer said was “a concern” last week at UF media day.

Speculation grew when Harvin was a no-show at the media event.

It seems like every other day the coaches are flip flopping on Percy’s situation. I thought that this heel surgery was supposed to fix his problems for good. It was supposed to cure his nagging problems. I know every player reacts differently to surgery, it just sucks that Percy can’t shake this thing.

Being the last one out is no big deal. Percy had a small crowd of kids around him wanting autographs. He was very polite and signed as many as he could. He even took pictures with some of the people. Unfortunately, since he was almost late to practice, one of the assistants came out and yelled “Let’s go Percy.” He wasn’t in trouble, but he needed to speed things up or the coaches might not be happy.

Because he didn’t have time to sign autographs for everyone I didn’t get one. I was however, able to snap this picture as he walked by. And if you’re wondering… his arms are as big as they look in those Gator Charity Challenge Pictures.

Chris Low of ESPN.com had this to say about the situation: “Florida receiver Percy Harvin: I know coaches like to spread the wealth and bring one offensive and one defensive player, but Harvin is the most exciting playmaker in the league. Maybe his surgically repaired right heel simply couldn’t withstand the pounding of walking to and from all those interviews. Nah, Percy’s shown on the field he’s a lot tougher than that.”

It must have been a hard decision for Urban to make. The fans and the media want to see Percy Harvin. They want to know how he’s doing. With a good year in 2008, Percy will be headed to the NFL… so I don’t think he’ll get another chance to participate in an SEC Media Day. O-well.

“He’s doing tremendous,” Meyer said at the Florida Sports Writers Association’s annual college football media days. “What happens with skilled athletes and you see it all the time — especially with the race-horse-type guys — if they hurt a certain part of their body, another part of their body takes over and then you start having the hip flexors, hamstring issues, quad issues. So we’re being very cautious.”

It’s been 3 months since his surgery in April. Hopefully all the time off and quick recover will help put these nagging injuries behind him. I really feel like Percy is poised for a break out year in 2008.