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Percy Harvin placed on injured reserve, ending his season

The Vikings will be without their top receiver for the rest of the season. Harvin's sprained left ankle just wouldn't heal fast enough.

December 6, 2012 at 12:20AM

Head Athletic Trainer Eric Sugarman attended to Minnesota Vikings receiver Percy Harvin (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

After an odd day at Winter Park, filled with plenty of ambiguity surrounding the Percy Harvin saga, the Vikings have cleared things up: Harvin's season is now over.

The dynamic receiver has been placed on injured reserve, unable to come back from the sprained left ankle he suffered Nov. 4 in Seattle. What was once figured to be an injury that would just need a few weeks to heal is now season-ending and could possibly require surgery.

Before suffering the ankle sprain, Harvin had amassed 60 catches for 667 yards in the first eight games.

He sat out the team's 34-24 win over Detroit in Week 10 but stayed in Minnesota over the bye to continue getting treatment.

Harvin seemed intent on being ready for the Nov. 25 game in Chicago but never showed enough progress.

Last week, in another effort to get back on the field, Harvin tried to practice mid-week but had great difficulty cutting or pushing off.

Frazier made clear Wednesday that the receiver has been serious about his recovery throughout.

"He's done pretty much the things the trainers have asked him to do," the coach said.

Frazier was also asked Wednesday morning whether he feared Harvin's season might be finished completely.

"Hard to say," he responded with a glum tone. "Hard to say."

Now, it's not so hard to say. Harvin's season is over.

He finishes the year with 62 catches for 677 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 22 rushes for 96 yards and a score and had a 105-yard kickoff return to open the Vikings' Week 4 game in Detroit.

The Vikings' evening announcement of Harvin's status put the lid back on the Pandora's box of speculation that had opened after Frazier's Wednesday morning press conference.

After announcing Harvin would not practice, the Vikings coach was asked point blank if there were additional issues beyond the ankle injury that have contributed to Harvin's continued absence. Frazier hesitated for a second and formed his response carefully.

"You know, it's …" Frazier said. "I know that he wants to win like we do. And I'm sure he's going to do everything he can to do what he has to do to help our football team.

"We'll see where it goes."

Frazier's mannerisms seemed to indicate there may have been complicated subtext to the mini-drama. Harvin's reputation as a mercurial and sometimes high-maintenance standout made Frazier's squirminess Wednesday all the more peculiar.

Now, the news is final and unpleasant. The Vikings' ordinary receiving corps will go the rest of the way without its top playmaker. And that's not good for an offense that has clearly missed Harvin's presence, amassing just 263 passing yards and totaling 24 points in consecutive road losses to the Bears and Packers.