Why the Seattle Seahawks won’t move TE Colby Parkinson to IR just yet
During the first two weeks of training camp for the Seattle Seahawks, many of the reports from the fans and media in attendance regarding Colby Parkinson’s second year were similar. His size, length, and skills were impressive, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to Parkinson’s to have a breakout season based on what he showed at camp.
However, those reports came before Friday’s news that Parkinson’s injured the foot he injured in 2020 and kept it on the sidelines for the entire training camp and first half of the season. Add Pete Carroll’s comments that Parkinson’s was likely to be “a bit” on the move and things weren’t looking good. On Saturday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero added a reason for optimism about the injury, specifically that no surgery would be required.
#Seahawks TE Colby Parkinson’s foot injury does not require surgery, a source said. Parkinson’s, one of the camp’s standouts, could be back in weeks, not months. Better news than last year.
– Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 14, 2021
The discussion of the Parkinson’s injury at this point leads to the question of what the team will do as a result, and the fact that the Seahawks, along with the other 31 NFL clubs, are reducing the roster to 85 players from 90 through Tuesday need to be 4 p.m. New York time. Hence the logical question by some is whether Parkinson’s could be intended for the injured reserve. With the league again allowing teams to return an unlimited number of players from the injured reserve after a three week stay, this seems like a logical solution as moving players to the injured reserve is used instead of surrendering or releasing a player can.
However, if Parkinson’s were put in injured reserve at this point, it would be the end of his 2021 season.
The ability for a player to return from injured reserve is only available if a team has placed a player on injured reserve after 1:00 p.m. New York time on the day following the final squad cut. That’s a lot of mumbo jumbo by law, but what it boils down to is this:
- Teams must reduce their roster to 53 players at 4:00 p.m. New York time on August 31
- Any player placed on IR before 1:00 p.m. New York time on September 1 will not be allowed to return to the active roster at any time during the 2021 season.
So for Parkinson’s, that means that he could very well end up in the injured reserve, but not for a few more weeks. The recovery time for an injury as treated conservatively (without surgery) is usually six to eight weeks, and since his injury is on Wednesday October 11th to 6th. This return window is important because if Parkinson’s goes on IR after September 1, he would be eligible to return after the Seahawks Week 3 game against the Minnesota Vikings on September 26.
When you put it all together, it means Parkinson’s is likely to end up in the injured reserve, but only after the team slashed their roster to 53. The implication is obvious that the team will likely end up fourth on a tight end due to final duty roster cuts before Parkinson’s is placed on the injured reserve. That means any of the final three in the position, including Tyler Mabry, Cam Sutton, and Dom Wood-Anderson, will likely spend the last two weeks of preseason battling for the right to claim that spot. More importantly, though, it increases the likelihood that I was right back in May when I predicted the team would likely keep four tight ends on the 53-man roster.