Dontae Johnson placed on IR, Seahawks promote CB Akeem King to active roster

The Seattle Seahawks cornerback depth is being stretched already.

Dontae Johnson went from being Seattle’s presumptive starter on the right side of the defense, to questionable with a hip injury, to questionable with a groin strain, to out for Week 1 and placed on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss at least eight games. The Seahawks have a bye beforehand, so he can’t come back until Week 10 at the earliest.

With Johnson on IR, the Seahawks have promoted Akeem King from the practice squad to the 53-man active roster. King struggled at times throughout preseason, not necessarily getting burned in coverage, but he had repeated issues with getting his head turned around and locating the ball. One may diagnose this as “Kelly Jennings disease,” but that doesn’t mean it’s not fixable.

So in all likelihood, rookie CB Tre Flowers will be getting the start, having played at safety while at Oklahoma State. The safety-to-corner conversion project wasn’t supposed to involve starting/getting significant playing time on opening day, but recent events necessitate that Flowers be pressed into action.