The Seattle Seahawks are heading into their game on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers without one of their top receivers in Sidney Rice after he was lost for the season to an ACL injury and now it appears that another top player will be missing from the game, as head coach Pete Carroll announced that wideout Percy Harvin will not suit up in Week 9.
According to ESPN.com, Carroll said that Harvin is not quite ready to return to the field after having hip surgery this offseason and his debut could be a couple weeks away still. Harvin was traded from the Vikings in the offseason after making over 60 catches last season with a nice amount of yards despite getting injured and now he is expected to be a big addition to the offense, especially now that Rice is out for the year. Golden Tate is a solid fantasy football option while Rice is out and he has 32 receptions for 439 yards and three touchdowns this season.
Carroll told reporters Harvin would be out but that he is "close" to getting back on the field and while he has been back at practice over the past couple weeks, he had a slight injury setback and now Jermaine Kearse will play in Rice's place since Harvin can't go. Harvin originally got surgery on his torn labrum in August and he was placed on the PUP list and now the Seahawks have a window of the next two weeks to officially activate him.
The Seahawks are looking like one of the best teams in the NFL and they are 7-1 on the year after defeating the St. Louis Rams last week on Monday night football. The team has won three games in a row since losing to the Colts and they opened the season with four straight wins to go 4-0 for the first time in NFL history. The Seahawks are a Super Bowl pick by many experts around the league and now that they have suffered some injuries, things could get dicey, but they appear to have the talent to handle it.
The team has a tough schedule the rest of the way with the Atlanta Falcons coming after the Buccaneers and the team plays the Vikings before having a very important bye. Seattle will then host Monday night football against the New Orleans Saints and then the team hits the road for the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants and then the final two home games are the Arizona Cardinals and the St. Louis Rams.