Harvin runs first route -- to an Atlanta hospital bed

Vikings coach Brad Childress has long made it clear that his preference is to focus on the players who are in attendance at the team's various offseason camps. But as the Vikings opened a three-day rookie minicamp Friday at Winter Park that simply wasn't possible.

Not with first-round pick Percy Harvin in an Atlanta hospital suffering from extreme dehydration and a virus. And certainly not with the for-now retired Brett Favre free to explore his options after the New York Jets released the quarterback from their reserve/retired list.

Childress said that Harvin, the standout wide receiver from Florida, was expected to be hospitalized "24 to 48 hours" and that he had been checked for H1N1 novel influenza. Those tests came back negative.

As for Favre, Childress said: "We haven't [talked about Favre]. It doesn't mean we won't. We talk about everything from what's going on in the United States on the front page today. ... We talk about everything. So, yeah, I'm sure we'll talk about that."

Childress' main concern was Harvin's condition. A large group of media members turned out to see Harvin make his initial appearance in a Vikings uniform, but he was nowhere to be found. This created some alarm, given the character issues that surrounded Harvin entering the draft -- he reportedly tested positive for marijuana use at the NFL scouting combine.

Putting fears at rest

Childress wasted little time in addressing Harvin's situation, explaining that Harvin started to feel ill on Wednesday but still went through an intense workout with Florida's strength coach. Harvin then boarded a plane from his home in Florida for the Twin Cities on Thursday but became sick during a layover in Atlanta. He vomited several times in the airport, and paramedics quickly treated him. He had a mask placed over his face and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

"I'm sure that with where we are at right now, when you vomit in the airport and are extremely sick, they were over the top," said Childress, referring to the worries about the H1N1 novel influenza.

Childress said that Harvin's father told him his son had been on "14 or 15 trips on airplanes here in the last couple of weeks" and several of those likely included connecting flights. Harvin and his family had taken a flight to Minnesota last Sunday after he was drafted and then quickly returned to Florida.

"And he had three workouts the week that I was down there [last week]," Childress said. "I just think the grind had caught up with him. That's what they are calling extreme dehydration probably exacerbated by that hard workout. It's an unfortunate circumstance, but it is what it is."

Childress talked to Harvin on Friday morning, and the plan is for Harvin to return home to Florida once he is released from the hospital. Harvin won't take part in this weekend's camp, meaning his next opportunity to get on the field would be at the Vikings' Organized Team Activities later this month.

Oh, and that Brett guy ...

The possibility that Favre could be the guy throwing passes to Harvin this season -- Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels are expected to battle for the starting spot -- remains open for speculation. The Vikings, of course, went through the Favre saga last summer when he set his sights on playing in Minnesota after the Green Bay Packers showed little interest in him ending his brief retirement.

The Packers made sure Favre did not end up in Minnesota and eventually traded him to the Jets. But Favre is no longer is property of any team, and if he does come back it likely would be with the Vikings. Asked about this possibility, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said: "If Brett wants to play football, he should play football. That's really my stance on it. If he still wants to play, he should take advantage of his opportunities."

Childress, though, said that possibility has not been on the top of his list -- yet. "I think the thing there is we've had our heads down so hard here on the draft and then after the draft signing free agents and after that getting ready for this minicamp," he said. "I go through the waiver wire every night. [But] we haven't really even had a chance to even talk about that. Our focus has been on the guys we sign and getting ready for this and then just finishing up the draft stuff."