Vikings Training Camp 2012: Percy Harvin is Back Returning Kicks

Here’s your first semi-intriguing development of training camp: As of this morning, Percy Harvin appears to once again be the Vikings’ #1 kick returner. Tom Pelissero tweeted about the situation from his station at Mankato. “Look who’s taking first rep on kick returns,” he posted, along with a picture of Harvin. He then added, “Behind Harvin, the kick returners are Walters, Taylor, Wright, Sherels and Robinson, who did a little walking pace work on scout team.”

Why is this a semi-intriguing development? Because earlier this offseason we were led to believe that Percy Harvin was done with all return duties. Leslie Frazier seemed to make it clear that Harvin would be employed exclusively on offense and there would be no more using him as a kick returner hence forcing him to sit out the first couple plays of the ensuing offensive series.

Somewhere along the line the plan changed and Harvin is back returning kicks (at least as of this morning’s walkthrough). One has to wonder if the kick return thing wasn’t one of the “issues” Harvin alluded to during his minicamp semi-meltdown. I certainly hope it wasn’t the ONLY thing Harvin was griping about. Would be sad to think a man could demand a trade over something as silly as return duties. Then again, this is Percy Harvin we’re talking about. He seems to take himself awfully seriously.

Update: Twitter follower @sandiamond1 alerted me to a Leslie Frazier statement from after minicamp indicating Percy would continue returning kicks but only on a part-time basis like last season. Was this the plan all along or did Percy force their hand with his minicamp posturing? Who knows. All I know is, Percy was going to be  part-time returner as of minicamp, and now Mike Priefer is saying Percy is the #1 return man. Why the Vikings changed their minds on protecting Percy’s health by limiting his return work is anyone’s guess.

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