Vikings WR Percy Harvin has been lining up as the first-team kick returner, but as Vikings fans have seen in the past, that doesn’t necessarily mean he will take every rep there all season.

Last season, the coaches balanced Harvin’s kick return duties with the amount of plays they needed from him on offense, and when RB Adrian Peterson went down with a sprained ankle and then a knee injury, Harvin’s production certainly increased. Despite Harvin taking first-team reps, look for more of the same situational use of him at kick returner this season.

“Right now we talked about any time we may need a spark, the beginning of games, just a game-changing situation,” Harvin said. “We flirted a little bit with it last year, but when Adrian went down we kind of went away from it. But if the chance is there, I will definitely be out there.”

WRs Bryan Walters and Jarius Wright and CBs Marcus Sherels (last season’s backup) and Josh Robinson (before he pulled a hamstring) have all been taking reps and doing well, according to coach Leslie Frazier, but they are basically vying to be Harvin's backup.

“Bryan did a good job in San Diego when he was there -- we want to have him in the rotation,” Frazier said. “Jarius is improving, who also may be a candidate for punt returns. But Marcus did a good job for us a season ago. We will continue to have those guys available as candidates and monitor when is the right time to use Percy and when it's not the right time.”

The Vikings should balance Harvin's duties because they want to keep him fresh and healthy.

“I think we have some options when we don’t want to put Percy back there,” Frazier said. “But we have to continue to go through this process and the preseason will help determine that.”

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