Update: Harvin to return; Sherman apologizes

The Seahawks will add an almost-new weapon for the Super Bowl: Percy Harvin.

“He’ll be ready — he’s fine,” said coach Pete Carroll Monday morning on his weekly ESPN 710 radio show. Harvin missed Sunday’s game against the 49ers after a concussion a week earlier against New Orleans. He didn’t pass the NFL’s concussion protocol and was held out.

Since two weeks separate the conference title games and the Super Bowl, Harvin has extra time to recover.

At his press conference Monday afternoon, Carroll said Harvin will be examined again and “there is an expectation” that he will be available for the Feb. 2 game, but the first step is being cleared for practice Wednesday.

“We are kind of counting on him to be ready,” he said. “We think he should be. He has a very good chance to practice based on how he was on the weekend.”

Harvin, acquired by the Seahawks during the last offseason at a cost of three draft choices and a $67 million contract, underwent hip surgery Aug. 1 and didn’t play until Nov. 17 against Minnesota. He caught one pass and returned one kickoff in that game.

But with his hip still bothering him, Harvin didn’t play again until the first half against the Saints when he caught three passes. He suffered a pair of head blows, one on a tackle that drew a personal foul penalty and second from striking his head on the ground after a failed reception.

Sherman apologizes

After thinking about it overnight and talking with Carroll, Richard Sherman has some morning-after regrets about his post-game TV rant against 49ers WR Michael Crabtree that received considerable social media attention/criticism.

“He caused a stir that took away from the team,” Carroll said, “We talked. He didn’t feel right about that.”

In a text to ESPN’s Ed Werder, Sherman wrote, “I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates . . .  That was not my intent.”

Sherman’s deflection of an end-zone pass intended for Crabtree, which bounced into the hands of teammate Malcolm Smith, closed the 23-17 win.

On ESPN radio, Sherman said, “Obviously, I could have worded things better, and could obviously have had a better reaction and done things differently. But it is what it is now, and people’s reactions are what they are.”

After the interception, Sherman ran over to Crabtree and gave him a pat on the butt and  appeared to extend his arm for a handshake. Crabtree gave an open-handed shove to Sherman’s face mask.

Sherman also directed a choke sign at QB Colin Kaepernick, who had a fumble and two interceptions in San Francisco’s final three possessions. Sherman  was hit with a personal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“I was making sure everyone knew Crabtree was a mediocre receiver,” Sherman said in his post-game news conference. “And when you try the best corner in the game with a mediocre receiver, that’s what happens. I appreciate that he knows that now. There has been a lot of talk from him running his mouth about me.”

Sherman was also upset with some derogatory racial tweets, and fired back:

“To those who would call me a thug or worse because I show passion on a football field — don’t judge a person’s character by what they do between the lines,” Sherman wrote in his column posted on mmqb.com. “Judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family.

“But people find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language far worse than what you’ll see from me. It’s sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is. I can handle it.”

Sideline knockdown irks Carroll

Carroll said he was “very disappointed” there was no penalty called on a non-uniformed member of the 49ers sideline who deliberately knocked down Seahawks punt-team gunner Jeremy Lane, who was attempting to cover a punt and was forced out along the sideline.

Carroll filed a report with league officials, but has heard no response.

Injuries minor

Doug Baldwin has a hip pointer after a hard landing following his 51-yard reception in the second quarter, Carroll said. He will be limited in practice but should be fine by the game. DT Brandon Mebane has a sore ankle and RB Marshawn Lynch will need rest after his big game.

K.J. Wright came off the bench and played well at strongside linebacker, Carroll said,  despite missing the previous five weeks after surgery to fix a bone broken in his right foot. No word yet on whether he will return to his starting job.