Sore ribs kept Vikings receiver Percy Harvin off the practice field this afternoon. Head coach Leslie Frazier said the decision to hold Harvin out was mostly precautionary, giving the speedy receiver some extra time to heal up before Sunday's game in Chicago. X-rays on Harvin's ribs came back negative with no signs that his ribs were cracked.
Harvin did stop through the Winter Park facilities and went through a walk-through in the early afternoon. He should be able to play this weekend.
Cornerback Antoine Winfield, meanwhile, continues to be sidelined by neck stiffness. The injury occurred in the Vikings' Week 4 loss at Kansas City and Winfield hasn't been back to practice since. He missed Thursday's practice. And Frazier said he'd like to have Winfield back in at least a limited capacity Friday to consider playing him on Sunday night. Winfield's neck injury, the team says, isn't structural in nature. That leaves the cornerback to keep the coaching staff abreast of how his neck is feeling as the stiffness dissipates.
"We do have to rely in large part on what he says," Frazier said. "The tests that we've run are as positive as we can get. So you have to kind of wait and see how he feels. If he feels pain when he's turning or moving, [you have to stay concerned]. He's been good at communicating where he is."
Updated Vikings' injury report summary from Thursday's practice ...
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: Antoine Winfield (neck), Percy Harvin (ribs).
LIMITED: E.J. Henderson (knee), Kenny Onatolu (hamstring).
FULL PARTICIPATION: Jared Allen (eye), Husain Abdullah (pelvis).
