Coach Leslie Frazier defended the Minnesota Vikings' use of Percy Harvin on Wednesday, saying the team is taking "the right approach" by using the dynamic receiver on a limited basis in specific packages, rather than as an every-down player.
"There's nothing he has to prove," Frazier said. "We know what Percy's capable of doing. He's a big-time playmaker, whether it's on kickoff return or playing wide receiver. It's just a matter of our using his strengths to our greatest advantage, to our team's advantage and picking out spots when we do that."
Harvin played 27 of 43 offensive snaps in a season-opening loss to San Diego, then played only 30 of 68 snaps in a Week 2 defeat against Tampa Bay.
Despite missing two games last season with migraines and battling several other injuries, Harvin played 60.9% of the total offensive snaps.
Preserving Harvin is one potential reason the Vikings are limiting on offense as well as kick returns. He missed a little time in the preseason with sore ribs, but Frazier said there are no health concerns at his time, nor do coaches have preoccupation about his blocking.
"We just want to make sure that we use him the right way and get him his touches," Frazier said. "We have an idea how many touches we want to get him per game, and that'll help our team."
Fantasy owners never want to hear that one of their players is on a snap count, but that's exactly what's going on with Harvin. Even more perplexing is the team's reluctance to use him in the redzone. If this continues, Harvin will be more of a fantasy WR3 instead of the WR2 that owners thought they were getting on draft day.
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