Percy Harvin’s didn’t expect his career with the Minnesota Vikings to start on the sidelines. But that’s exactly what happened when Coach Brad Childress held the 2009 first round pick out of the team’s first preseason game against the Colts this past Friday. And while there has been no official confirmation that Harvin will finally make his Vikings’ debut this week against the Chiefs, both Harvin and the coaches appear confident that he will see significant playing time this preseason. “Oh yeah” said Coach Childress Monday after a full contact practice at Winter Park. “We’ll need him to get out there soon and see what he can do as soon as possible. And when he’s finally ready there won’t be any holding back. He’s diving face first into the muff, so to speak, and we’re going to make him catch every ball and plug every hole that we can find on the field for him. He’ll be tearing his NFL hymen wide open this Friday.” 
The young receiver’s eyes lit up as he heard his coach talk about his first potential playing time of the year. “Definitely, definitely” Percy said in reaction to Childress’ comments. “I’m more than excited to see some live action. It’s like you’ve watched so much video of how these people get it on in the games and you think you know where everything goes – when to hit the holes fast, maybe when to do more left, right, left, right, darting or even when to just drop your body softly into a zone – but sometimes when you get onto that field for the first time everything you learned seems foreign again and you do crazy things, sometimes things you regret. Maybe you end up in the wrong hole, or accelerate for the goal a bit too prematurely – even though that’s only happened to me once, I swear – but you can sometimes feel like a, I don’t know, like a virgin out there. “It’s a bit scary, but the more you practice at it the better you get.” 
“And practice he’ll need” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell chimed in after the afternoon workouts. “Don’t get me wrong, Percy is a great physical specimen for the NFL. He’s fast, but he can be gentle, strong, but with soft hands. He really brings a bit of everything to the table and based on some amateur video we’ve seen of him back when he was in college you know he can score. A lot. But this is the big leagues here, and he’s trying to fool around with the best of the best. We’re going to make sure that he’s prepared for every position that we ask him to get into by showing him several new techniques in these preseason games. “But he’s got to get on that field first, even if it’s a bit muddy” Bevell finishes with a smirk. “You know what they say; even if there’s no grass on the field, go play in the mud. Go get yourself dirty, you little slut.” 
“Did Coach Bevell say that?” Percy asked with a sly grin later. “He must have seen some of those old college tapes of mine.” Standing nearby, wide receiver partner n just shook his head. “I remember when I had my first chance to play receiver. He’ll be fine.” Although not official, Vikings fans, start preparing yourselves for a steaming load of Harvin, coming this Friday to the Metrodome.
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