NFL teams
Jane McManus, Reporter & Columnist, espnW.com 9y

Percy Harvin: 'Up to the challenge'

NFL, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New Jets wide receiver Percy Harvin spent his last few minutes in the locker room Friday talking with teammates Michael Vick and Chris Johnson. It was a light moment -- Johnson yelled after Harvin until he was cracking up with laughter -- and one that was in stark contrast to reports that he was central to Seattle's internal discord.

"Whatever they say happened in the Seahawks' locker room, it's all in the past," Harvin said.

He stood in front of his locker and said he hadn't read all the reports focusing on his former team, and he didn't address why he got traded from the Super Bowl-winning Seahawks to the Jets.

"I really put it all behind me once I got here," Harvin said. "What people are saying right now, it doesn't mean much to me. My teammates have embraced me, my brothers here, so I'm looking more forward. I'm looking forward to my time here as a New York Jet."

Harvin's locker is next to former Seahawks teammate Breno Giacomini, who said he doesn't recognize the Harvin in those reports as the one he played alongside in Seattle.

"No, never," Giacomini said. "And we were together [last season] quite a bit. I was hurt, he was hurt. His locker was in my corner. From what I saw, he's always been a good teammate.

"But there are, what, 63 guys in the locker room? We see each other all day more than we see our families and all that. Put a group of boys together and see what happens. It happens all the time. But I think the media is blowing it up to be something that it's not."

Jets coach Rex Ryan said he isn't concerned that Harvin is going to be a negative force in the Jets' locker room. When Ryan and then-Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum were evaluating players for the 2009 draft, Harvin was one of their top choices.

"Well, we had extensive background checks on Percy when he came out, so I think I know this player," Ryan said. "Again, I don't know if we put more into that study than we did anybody else's, but I can't remember spending more time on an individual."

Ultimately, the Jets traded up and drafted quarterback Mark Sanchez with the fifth pick that year, and Harvin went to the Vikings at No. 22.

Harvin will have a clean slate with the Jets, Ryan said.

Since he was drafted, the 5-foot-11, 184-pound Harvin has been primarily used in the slot or as a gadget receiver, grabbing short passes from his quarterbacks. But he would like to do more and says he has the speed and route-running ability to be an outside receiver.

"I'm looking to take my game to the next level," Harvin said.

The Jets are amenable to that.

"I think everybody knows he has that kind of ability," Ryan said.

Vick said he thought the transition would be simple.

"I don't think it's difficult at all," Vick said. "It's your mindset. Percy, with the type of talent he has, he'll be able to make that transition easy, because it's what he wants to do."

Harvin has already been practicing returning punts for the Jets. Despite having just a week to cram offensive plays, Harvin said he will be ready to go Sunday when the Jets host the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium.

He was asked Friday how it felt to go from the reigning Super Bowl winners to the Jets, who at 1-6 are fighting for relevance as the window is closing.

"It's fine with me," Harvin said. "I take the challenge, and I look at here as being part of something special. Lot of people had written this team off, so I'm definitely with being part of the process of turning this thing around.

"Once we turn this around, I can say I was a part of something special."

That's an attitude that is sowing respect, rather than discord, in the Jets' locker room already.

"That's a for-real statement," defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson said. "That means he's here to put in work."

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