Seahawks place CB Tre Flowers on injured reserve, promote OT Chad Wheeler

The Seahawks have taken another hit to their secondary as Tre Flowers, who has been starting the last few weeks due to injuries to Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dunbar, has been placed on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury.

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The Seahawks announced the move Saturday and in a corresponding move, offensive tackle Chad Wheeler has been promoted from the practice squad. The Seahawks also moved defensive tackle Bryan Mone from injured reserve to the reserve/COVID-19 list. Mone is the first Seahawk to be placed on that list.

Flowers played the entire game against the Eagles last week, but came out of the game with a nagging hamstring. He was ruled doubtful to play in Week 13 against the Giants. Now, Flowers will miss at least three games, meaning he could return Week 16 or later.

Flowers, 25, is in his third season in the NFL after the Seahawks drafted him in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Flowers started as a rookie in 2018 and in 2019 with Griffin, but he lost his starting job for 2020 after the Seahawks traded for Dunbar.

But Flowers actually has played more games than either Dunbar or Griffin as those two have battled injuries basically all season long. Griffin missed four games with a hamstring injury before returning last week against the Eagles while Dunbar missed two games early in the year and then hasn’t played since Week 9 against the Bills because of a nagging knee injury. Dunbar is currently on injured reserve.

Flowers has been a frequent target of Seahawks fans since last season as he often plays softer coverage and allowed seemingly easy quick passes in coverage. He also had issues with penalties and coverage late last year in the playoffs.

But over the last few weeks, Flowers has arguably played better than any Seahawks cornerback this season. Most notably, Flowers was matched up with star Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins, a top-five receiver in the NFL, and held him to just five catches for 51 yards.

Now, the Seahawks will pair Griffin with D.J. Reed as the starting outside cornerbacks, which will be the fifth starting cornerback duo that the Seahawks will employ this season. Reed started opposite Flowers in Seattle’s Week 11 win over the Arizona Cardinals and has also played some snaps as a nickel cornerback.

Wheeler, 26, entered the league in 2017 with the Giants and joined the Seahawks in 2019 due to his familiarity with Seattle’s offensive line coach Mike Solari, who was previously with New York. His addition to the roster is due to right tackle Brandon Shell’s ankle injury, which will likely keep him out against the Giants for the second week in a row, as well as how backup tackle Cedric Ogbuehi is questionable to play with a calf injury.

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