Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday that tight end Colby Parkinson and rookie cornerback Tre Brown would be out for Seattle's regular-season opener, and a day later those two were both placed on injured reserve, as was cornerback Nigel Warrior.
Receiver Penny Hart and cornerback John Reid were both promoted form the practice squad, and Seattle also signed free-agent cornerback Blessuan Austin. The addition of Hart gives the Seahawks a fifth receiver on the roster, as well as a player who contributes on special teams. Reid, who was added last month in a trade with Houston, gives the Seahawks needed cornerback depth with Brown and Warrior out, and with recently-acquired corner Sidney Jones IV still getting up to speed. Reid is also a potential special teams contributor.
Austin, 25, was a sixth-round pick of the Jets in 2019, and was a starter when healthy, starting 16 of 18 games played over the past two seasons, recording 88 tackles, eight passes defensed and two forced fumbles.
Players on injured reserve are eligible to return after missing only three games, so Parkinson, Brown and Warrior going on IR doesn't mean their injury situations are serious, and indeed Carroll said on Monday that neither Parkinson nor Brown is expected out for a long stretch. Carroll was not asked about Warrior, who was claimed off of waivers last week.
Parkinson, who in training camp re-injured the foot that kept him out of much of his rookie season, though less seriously this time, is "on his way back," Carroll said. "He just isn't going to make it yet (for the opener). It's a foot injury that you just have to work your way back at it and not overdo it and not mess it up along the way. We felt like if we don't have him available here, then we can get a couple weeks to get him ready. That'll be really important, so that we can get him back, he'll stay back. He runs every day, he's working hard at it, but he's not up to full speed yet."
On Brown who has a sprained knee, Carroll said, "It's going to be a bit for him too. He's got a couple of things we're working on, but none of them are debilitating, none of them are serious, it's just going to take some time, so it's going to be a couple of weeks."
In addition to those moves, the Seahawks also signed cornerback Gavin Heslop to the practice squad and released tight end Mark Vital from the practice squad. Heslop, who signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie in 2020, spent most of last season on Seattle's practice squad, and was waived last week as part of the cutdown to 53 players. Vital, who played on Baylor's national championship-winning men's basketball team, signed to Seattle's practice squad last week.
