Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said during his weekly press conference on Thursday that rookie Percy Harvin was not present during the morning walkthrough. The Vikings will start practice around 1 p.m. so we'll see if Harvin is on the field for that, but it seems highly unlikely.
Harvin is still suffering from severe migraines that caused him to miss all of last week's practices and Sunday's game. Vikings coach Brad Childress said Harvin was on the field for Wednesday's walkthrough but he did not practice.
Harvin is seeing specialists for the problem and his return is unknown at this point.
"I think it just gives other guys opportunities to step up," Bevell said. "That's why you have guys that are behind him. Greg Lewis was able to make a couple catches in the game [Sunday]. Do we have to make adjustments? Obviously we have to just insert the next guy in there. That's just the way the game is. It's a tough game and at any time one guy can go down. We expect the next guy who's been sitting in the meeting room but maybe not getting his turns but all of a sudden his turns get elevated. We expect him to be able to step right in and make plays."
Running back Adrian Peterson also held his news conference today. Peterson rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries last week.
He had eight carries for 30 yards in the first quarter as the Vikings deliberately tried to pound the ball between the tackles rather than run outside. Peterson said he prefers that style.
"I'm a north and south runner," he said. "I love the hard-nosed football, run between tackles. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes you want to go outside to throw the defense off. But I definitely prefer running between the tackles."
