Chris Carson out again, Quinton Dunbar to IR among Seahawks moves before playing Cardinals

The Seahawks’ last-ranked pass defense is going to spend the next few weeks without the starting cornerback they traded for to play in games like these.

Quinton Dunbar, acquired in the spring to replace Tre Flowers as the starter, went on injured reserve before Seattle’s key NFC West game Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals. Dunbar missed his second consecutive game with what coach Pete Carroll has called a “chronic” knee injury, something defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said Dunbar had for “a long time” back to when he played for Washington through last season.

Going on injured reserve means Dunbar will be out a minimum of three games. That’s at least until Seattle’s home game against the New York Jets Dec. 13, if not beyond that.

The Seahawks started Flowers and new fill-in D.J. Reed at cornerback. Reed played for the second consecutive week replacing Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin. Griffin has not played since he strained his hamstring and got a concussion Oct. 25 in the team’s first meeting with the Cardinals. He’s through the NFL concussion protocol, but Griffin’s hamstring remains the problem.

Seattle signed cornerback Jayson Stanley from the practice squad to the active roster for depth in Thursday night’s game. Stanley was on the roster for the week eight and nine games against San Francisco and Buffalo into early this month.

The team called up from the practice squad former All-Pro defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison and running back Bo Scarbrough to play Thursday.

Carlos Hyde played for the first time in four games coming off a strained hamstring. He was Seattle’s lead running back, because Chris Carson was inactive for the fourth consecutive game.

Carson’s sprained foot allowed him to practice on a limited basis Tuesday, but kept him out again from practice Wednesday. The Seahawks had listed him as questionable to play.

This was the second consecutive week the Seahawks used Harrison per the league’s new roster exemptions of calling up players from the practice squad as 54th and 55th players above the 53-man active roster for a game. The new roster rule for this COVID-19 season state a team can do that game-day promotion a maximum of two times to any player from the practice squad.

If the Seahawks want Harrison to continue playing Nov. 30 in their next game at Philadelphia and beyond they will need to sign him to the active roster, which they are expected to do.

Seattle’s offensive coaches chose Scarbrough, whom the team had in its training camp and into the 2018 season. The Seahawks signed him back this week, nine days after Detroit released him.

The rest of the Seahawks’ inactive players Thursday were no surprise: starting center Ethan Pocic (concussion), Griffin, third-down running back Travis Homer (hand), reserve guard Jordan Simmons (calf), reserve defensive end Jonathan Bullard and rookie tight end Colby Parkinson.

Usual rookie right guard Damien Lewis started his first career game at center, for Pocic. That’s because Kyle Fuller got a high-ankle sprain four days earlier in the team’s loss at the Los Angeles Rams.

Fuller was in uniform but was standing and watch Lewis take all snaps in pregame warmups. He appeared to be available on an emergency basis only.

Jamarco Jones started in Lewis’ usual place at right guard. He’s also an option at center.

Dunbar is in the final year of the contract Seattle inherited from Washington in the trade. His injury and poor play, particular when he was hobbled and playing far off receivers on big plays for the Bills in Buffalo two games ago, puts his future beyond 2020 in some doubt.