Seahawks tight end Will Dissly was placed on the injured reserve Tuesday with a knee injury suffered in Saturday’s 24-10 loss at Kansas City.
Players on IR have to miss four games, so that means Dissly’s regular season is over, but he would be eligible to return if the Seahawks made a deep run in the postseason.
There were no immediate specifics on the severity of Dissly’s injury.
The Seahawks signed cornerback Xavier Crawford off the practice squad to take Dissly’s place on the 53-man roster. Crawford was likely signed to take the special teams roles of safety Joey Blount, who was placed on IR on Monday with a knee injury also suffered at Kansas City.
And Seattle signed safety Steven Parker to take Crawford’s place on the practice squad.
Dissly going on IR leaves Seattle with just two tight ends on its active roster in Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson.
But three-year veteran Tyler Mabry is on the practice squad and could be elevated for each of the final two regular-season games against the New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams, if needed.
Coach Pete Carroll said on his radio show on Seattle Sports 710 on Monday that Dissly had a “contusion” he was dealing with and would get some imaging done to figure out the damage.
Dissly’s last target came late in the third quarter. There was no announcement of an injury for Dissly during the game — he played 28 snaps and had one catch for 19 yards late in the third quarter.
Dissly ends the regular season with a career-high 34 catches for 349 yards and three touchdowns in what was the first of a three-year contract he signed in March. That contract can pay Dissly up to $24 million and includes $10.34 million guaranteed.
Dissly’s contract includes a clause in which his $5.64 million salary for 2023 becomes fully guaranteed if he is on the roster as of Feb. 10. There is no guaranteed money in the final year of Dissly’s contract in 2024 when he is due a salary of $6.49 million.
Dissly was completing his fifth NFL season after being drafted by Seattle in the fourth round out of the University of Washington in 2018.
Dissly also went on IR with season-ending injuries in 2018 (knee) and 2019 (Achilles) but rebounded from those injuries to play 31 of a possible 33 regular-season games in 2020 and 2021.
He was the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week Eight after forcing one fumble and recovering another in punt coverage with the two plays leading to 10 points to help key a 27-13 win over the New York Giants.
Dissly had the 12th best grade of 74 tight ends in the NFL for the season this week by Pro Football Focus, which includes the 12th-best run blocking grade of all tight ends.
Dissly has been listed as a co-starter with Fant with the two playing almost the same amount of snaps this year — Fant has 570 and Dissly 569, according to Pro Football Reference.
Fant is generally used in more receiving roles than Dissly and leads Seahawks tight ends with 44 receptions for 426 yards and four touchdowns, having scored in each of the last two games and three of the last four games.
Dissly’s absence means Seattle will now have to use Parkinson more. The third-year player out of Stanford has played a career-high 166 snaps this season, averaging 11 snaps per game. He has 18 receptions for 239 yards and one touchdown, all career highs.
Mabry has spent most of the past three years on Seattle’s practice squad but played in eight games last year — his only eight games in the NFL — with 22 snaps on offense and 81 on special teams.
Crawford played in five games earlier this year, playing 48 snaps on special teams.
Parker, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma in 2018, has played in 31 games over four years with Miami, Dallas and the Giants, and got four starts with the Dolphins in 2019, making two interceptions.
Parker was on Tennessee’s practice squad earlier this season but did not play in any games and was released on Oct. 31. He had a workout with the Seahawks in late November.
Packers sign WR Bo Melton
The Seahawks saw another practice squad spot open up Tuesday afternoon when the Packers signed receiver Bo Melton to their 53-man roster.
Seattle drafted Melton in the seventh-round last April at 229 overall out of Rutgers. But Melton was the only one of Seattle’s nine picks in the 2022 draft who did not make the 53-man roster out of training camp other than linebacker Tyreke Smith, who went on IR.
After being waived at the cutdown to 53, Melton was signed to the practice squad but had not been elevated for any games this season.
Melton had seven receptions for 89 yards in the preseason.
Seattle has six receivers on its 53-man roster including rookie Dareke Young, who was also taken in the seventh round at 233 overall.
Seattle also has two receivers on its practice squad in Cade Johnson and former WSU standout Easop Winston Jr.
Players can be signed off a practice squad to another team’s 53-man roster at any time but must then spend at least three weeks on that team’s 53-man roster and are guaranteed three weeks’ salary.