Percy Harvin missed Thursday's Vikings practice because of an illness, but coach Leslie Frazier said it's likely a stomach virus, not a migraine, and that the receiver was expected to return Friday.
"We've gone through the migraine part [before]," Frazier said. "There's a distinct difference with what's happening with your stomach and what's happening with migraines."
Harvin has battled migraines on and off since he was 10. He has missed three games since joining the Vikings in 2009, including two last season.
Harvin was sidelined briefly in training camp because of a rib injury but has not had a migraine yet this season. He hasn't missed a practice during the regular season and was at Winter Park for meetings early Thursday.
"He was in the meetings and just wasn't feeling good," Frazier said. "So, we just said, hey, there's no sense sending him out there [to practice]."
Earlier Thursday, offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave talked about wanting to get Harvin more snaps while also making sure he stays fresh and explosive. In Sunday's 24-17 loss to Tampa Bay, Harvin played only 30 of 65 snaps but had a game-high seven catches for 76 yards and two carries for 18 yards.
"We definitely want to expand Percy's dynamic ability," Musgrave said. "And we want to do a lot of good things in all packages. Certain packages Percy's a part of, and certain packages he's not. We want to play to his strengths, he's so dynamic and he plays with such passion that we want to get effectiveness and get good bang for our buck when he is on the field."
Musgrave attributed Harvin's low snap total Sunday to the fact the Vikings were running the ball effectively early on. Harvin was not a part of those run packages, although it wasn't because of his run-blocking ability.
