Percy Harvin Zone

I just posted yesterday about how we don’t know when Percy will be back, but an article on ESPN late evening is saying that the Gators expect Percy Harvin back in the lineup for Miami this coming Saturday.

Coach Urban Meyer said Sunday that the speedy junior probably will play against the Hurricanes. Meyer said the same about Spikes, the team’s defensive leader who injured his right foot last week and was wearing a walking boot Saturday.

I’m sure Urban will limit Percy throughout practice this week and during the game on Saturday, but this is still great news. don’t forget that the Gatprs have an off week after Miami, so that will give Harvin plenty of time to heal up for SEC play.

The Florida Gators were without star wr/rb Percy Harvin yesterday against Hawaii, but that didn’t stop them from running up 56 points against an average Hawaii team. Percy is still nursing that lingering heel injury, and there’s no concrete word yet as to when he’ll see game action.

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.

It’s hard to do a pre-game post when Percy Harvin isn’t going to be playing. While I could talk about what I expect the Gators to do in his absence, I think it’s quite obvious. Tebow will dominant and light up the scoreboard as usual, only he’ll have to do it without his favorite weapon. His backups will fill in nicely I’m sure.

I hate having to watch a game without Percy on the field. He’s so electrifying and fun to watch. I just wish him a speedy recovery.

If you want to talk more about the Florida Gators in general, head over to Gator Envy. They’ve got game threads and live chats for the fans that can’t make it to the game. Also if you pick the correct score to the Hawaii game you can win a free Gator license plate!

Go Gators!

Uggghhhhhh.

After reading Jeremy Fowler’s blog post from the Orlando Sentinel, I think it’s safe to say Percy Harvin won’t be playing this week vs. Hawaii. In fact, he may not even play until Tennessee or Ole Miss!

Looks like Percy Harvin’s status on his injured heel is turning into a Southeastern Conference conversation, maybe longer.

In an effort to prevent further injury on a right heel that was “about 75 to 80 percent” as of late last week, Harvin will likely miss the first two games and possibly the SEC opener at Tennessee while easing into a return with limited action, according to a source close to Harvin. Missing three games would set up Harvin for a Sept. 27 return at home against Ole Miss.

We all want what’s best for Percy, so I completely understand him wanting to wait until he’s 100% before making a comeback. “He’s the kind of guy, his pain tolerance is very high,” Anderson said. “And with his new size, he can be scary good. But he wants to make sure he’s 100 percent.” We really need Percy though if the Gators want to push for a National Championship.

Percy Harvin has continued to practice (although it’s been light) this week. But with the Florida Gators season opener against Hawaii just 3 days away, it is still unclear whether or not Meyer will run Percy out there.

At this point, I’m still leaning towards a no-go. Even if Percy says he can play and be effective on the field, it’s just not worth the risk. Better to see what the Gators have in Rainey, Moody, and some of the receivers. The Gators know what they have in Percy… probably the most explosive player in college football and someone who is capable of taking it to the endzone on any given play.

Percy should just keep practicing and work on building up the strength to run a full practice before he plays in a live game.

Hold the presses! Percy Harvin sees the practice field!

As the Florida Gators are only a week away from their opening game in The Swamp on Saturday, August 30 against the Hawaii Warriors, Percy practiced for the first time this preseason. “He didn’t go the whole way, but he practiced,” Meyer said. “There’s a chance.” So Meyer is saying there’s a chance Percy may play on Saturday? As much as we’d love to see it, I’m not sure I believe it.

Tim Tebow was very happy to see Percy back on the field. “Everyone else has been practicing all camp and they’ve got heavy legs,” Tebow said. “Percy was fresh, so he really looked fast out there today.”

This is great news for Gator fans. Over the past week or so, we were starting to think Percy might not be ready for a couple of games. But now that he is practicing, some of that worry is eased.

Percy Harvin is still moving along slowly. It is being reported that he did some light conditioning work yesterday. No word yet though on whether or not he’ll be back in time for the home opener.

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?

Read an interesting piece on Percy Harvin in the Orlando Sentinel. It seems that Percy may be closer to returning then we thought just a few days ago. Percy hasn’t practice at all this preseason. Here’s what the paper had to say:

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.

Percy Harvin has done very little in practice since the Gators opened up last Monday. He’s coming off that heel surgery, and Coach Urban Meyer has publicly said he’s a bit nervous about the recovery process. But is it still too early to panic?

“He’s taking it slow and being smart about it,” Tebow said. “He doesn’t have to go out there and practice today or tomorrow and be Percy. He has to be Percy when we play Hawaii. We know he’s going to do that. There’s no reason to push him back. He’ll be ready to go.”

Well if Timmy is that confident in Percy’s ability to come back, then shouldn’t we all? Even fellow Gator WR Louis Murphy is chiming in about Percy. “He’s scary good when he’s 75 percent,” Murphy said. “When he comes back, he’s going to be something to see.”

I say we still wait it out. If Percy Harvin still isn’t hitting the practice field hard by a few days before the Hawaii game, then we can start to panic. But for now, let’s wish him well and hope he comes back strong.

Yesterday I was down in Gainesville for the day and decided to check out some of the Gator football practice around 4:30 p.m. I waited patiently for all the players to exit the stadium and walk across the street to the practice fields. Finally, after all the other plays came out… Percy Harvin showed up.

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.