Seahawks place Brandon Shell on COVID list, activate Tre Flowers from injured reserve

Sunday the Seattle Seahawks will close out the 2020 regular season with a road game against the San Francisco 49ers. When the game is played at the Graveyard in Glendale due to the COVID restrictions put in place in Santa Clara by the county government that pushed the 49ers on the road, the Seahawks will, for the first time all season, not have the services of a player available due to COVID-related issues.

So, while the Hawks will have extra depth at cornerback with the return of Tre Flowers from injured reserve, neither Brandon Shell nor Damarious Randall will be available as both have been placed on the COVID reserve list. In Shell’s instance his placement on the list is precautionary, as he reportedly has not tested positive, but is considered a close contact of a confirmed case. Thus, his situation bears watching in the coming days, as if he does eventually test positive, it would render him unavailable for the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

With the placement of Shell and Randall on the COVID list, the Seahawks have elevated Alex Collins and Penny Hart from the practice squad. In addition, the Hawks used one of their two regular elevations for Alex Boone, which means it is probably unlikely that Mike Iupati sees the field for Seattle on Sunday due to the neck injury that has bothered him in recent weeks. These moves mean the Hawks will have six inactives Sunday when they take on San Francisco.