The volatile situation between Percy Harvin and the Minnesota Vikings finally came to a head on Monday, when the star receiver was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for draft picks. Last season, Harvin suffered an ankle injury during a Week 10 loss to Seattle (ironic, huh?). He was later placed on injured reserve in Week 14, but was there more to it than just a bum ankle?
On Monday, Minnesota defensive lineman Kevin Williams told the Star Tribune that the team was not given an explanation as to why Harvin was placed on injured reserve during the week leading up to a game against the Chicago Bears.
“I wouldn’t say it bothered me,” Williams explained. “Because I don’t know what all what went on. And I couldn’t say for sure what the relationship was like between him and the coaching staff and management. We just don’t know what that situation was about. I don’t know what his reason was for taking off. I just know that he was gone. And that’s the way it was left. Nobody every just came out and explained it to us, like, ‘Hey, he left for A, B, C and D.’
“So I don’t know what that relationship turned into. Was there something talked about? Was there a big problem? Or did he just leave? None of us really knew. I’m pretty sure it was addressed and we never got a clear answer on that. At all.”
If a player is injured to the point where he has to be placed on IR, it would not be a mystery to his teammates. The fact that Williams says the Vikings didn’t know the details of the situation is an indication that there was more to it than meets the eye. Head coach Leslie Frazier was vague when discussing Harvin’s injury last year, and players typically take four to six weeks to recover from severe ankle sprains.
Now that there are reports that Harvin had no confidence in his quarterback going forward, we’re starting to get a better idea of just how sour the relationship between the player and team had gotten. Perhaps it was more than just an ankle injury that closed the book on Percy’s 2012 season.
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