MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings have no idea if Percy Harvin will be able to play Sunday at Carolina, but at this point that might be the least of their worries.

The standout rookie receiver continued to battle migraine headaches Wednesday and spent only a brief portion of the day at Winter Park before heading home. He was not at practice.
Harvin missed all three days of practice last week and his first game of the season Sunday against Cincinnati because of the debilitating headaches.
Coach Brad Childress is usually loath to discuss his team’s health issues, but judging from his comments Wednesday there is genuine concern among many in the Vikings organization.
Childress said Harvin visited another doctor Monday and admitted physicians were looking at all possibilities. “I think they attempt to allay their fears in terms of other things, worse things, by asking questions,” Childress said. “But not being a doctor, they’ve got a whole set ... of protocols that they are taking him through.”
Asked if Harvin was still being evaluated, Childress said, “Yeah, it’s still part of the process.” He added that Harvin will be seeing “somebody whose expertise lies in the area” of migraines.
Harvin is the favorite to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He is second on the Vikings with 48 receptions for 681 yards and six touchdowns, and averages 29 yards with two touchdowns on 34 kickoff returns. Harvin is tied for seventh in the NFL in third-down receptions with 23 for 313 yards.
He clearly has the ability to change how teams play the Vikings because of his abilities both as a receiving and running threat.
“When Percy is not in there, he’s so fast and physical inside and that’s why Arizona chose to double and triple him most of the time (on Dec. 6),” quarterback Brett Favre said. “It’s just hard to cover him 1-on-1, and he makes teams pay for it.”
Harvin missed practices leading up to at least three games this season because of migraines but didn’t have to sit out until Sunday, when he wasn’t even able to attend the game. He also hadn’t missed all three days of practice before last week.
Harvin, who also saw a doctor last Thursday, has suffered from migraines since he was 10 years old, but this appears to be his most serious bout with them since he was a sophomore at Florida in 2007. Harvin missed back-to-back games for the Gators in November of that year and told Florida reporters he required medical attention that year. Harvin said he experienced nausea and dizzy spells along with the headaches.
“It’s debilitating,” Childress said of Harvin’s current migraines. “It’s not like he can stand on the side and converse. He has to shut down.”
Harvin has declined to discuss the problem with Twin Cities reporters but said when he was in college he often had been able to sleep them off. The Vikings knew Harvin had issues with migraines before they selected him with the 22nd pick of the draft in April, but what they didn’t figure on was that the problem would get as bad or worse than it did at Florida.
“(We) just knew that it said ’migraine headaches’ on the scouting report,” Childress said. “Just so we’re clear, it wouldn’t have been a disqualifier or anything like that (from drafting him). But I think anybody that reads the scouting report, I don’t know that we look into it and say, ’Oh, boy, to what extent?’ Not to the point where he’s missed a bunch of games or anything like that. We’ll be wiser next time and, again, it’s just something that we have to learn and deal with.”
For now, the Vikings are taking another step in the treatment plan.
“We are attempting to look into it and see if there’s any common denominators,” Childress said. “He’s been having them for a good period of time. It’s important for us to get some kind of a baseline if we can, doctor-wise, and yet still know that they’re fairly unpredictable. We as coaches — you know, the controlling types — we would like to control those things, but that’s something beyond my control.”