Percy Harvin will practice Wednesday in preparation for Chicago

Vikings receiver Percy Harvin said he will "definitely" attempt to do at least some work at practice this afternoon, eager to return to action after resting and recuperating his sprained left ankle for the past two-and-a-half weeks. The swelling is down.

And Harvin is feeling spry. Now he'll test the ankle with an eye on returning for Sunday's pivotal NFC North showdown in Chicago.

"It's still a little stiff in certain areas," Harvin said. "A little swelling. It's just not major swelling. So it's to the point now where I feel like I can do a little something. I'll see how much when I get out there."

Harvin sprained his ankle in the third quarter of the Vikings' 30-20 loss in Seattle on Nov. 4. He missed the following week's game against Detroit, then spent big chunks of his bye week in the Winter Park training room, working with the team medical staff to work his ankle back into shape as quickly as possible.

Harvin said he spent time in the pool, iced the ankle often and used electrical stimulation treatment as well. "We ran through pretty much every machine I think we had in here," Harvin said. "So we got in it pretty good. I'm still on the same rehab schedule. Everything's looking good."

As the Vikings prepare for Sunday's game, Harvin wants to make sure he can be fully functional if he does play. That means being able to make his usual cuts and run his routes with the same precision and explosion.

This afternoon's practice should provide a progress report to that end.

As for the Vikings' 403-yard, 34-point output against Detroit in Week 10, Harvin watched that eruption from home and felt encouraged by the offense's balance and the revived passing game.

"We kept Christian on his feet," Harvin said. "Then he made the right reads, went through his progressions and delivered the ball. They looked great. It was definitely great to see that."

Harvin said it was also great to see rookie Jarius Wright step up and contribute so significantly in his absence. Wright had three catches for 65 yards, including an early 54-yard grab and a 3-yard TD catch. That puts Harvin firmly in the camp that believes there's plenty of room to have both him and Wright on the field together.