Seahawks Make Wide Receiver Move Before Facing Broncos

The Seattle Seahawks activated wide receiver Irv Charles from injured reserve on Tuesday afternoon, clearing him to play in Thursday night’s road game against the Denver Broncos.

The corresponding roster move was the release of running back Velus Jones Jr. to stay within the 53-man limit.

Charles spent the opening weeks of the season on injured reserve while continuing his recovery from a torn ACL suffered in December 2024.

That injury occurred while he was still with the New York Jets, and it forced him to miss the entire 2025 campaign.

Seattle acquired Charles in a May trade that sent a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2028 NFL Draft to New York. He built his reputation almost entirely on special teams during two active seasons with the Jets.

Across 25 games in 2023 and 2024, Charles recorded 14 tackles and blocked one punt.

The 29-year-old measures 6-foot-4 and 219 pounds and arrived in the league as an undrafted free agent out of Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2022.

After a brief stint at Penn State earlier in his college career, he developed into a reliable gunner known for his size and speed on coverage units.

Seattle designated him for return to practice on Oct. 7, which opened the standard 21-day window for evaluation before any activation decision.

Jones, released to create the roster spot, had appeared in four games this season and contributed two tackles along with two kickoff returns.

A 2022 third-round draft pick by the Chicago Bears, Jones had bounced among several teams before joining Seattle’s practice squad and later receiving a promotion earlier this fall.

Both the Seahawks and Broncos enter the Week 6 matchup with identical 3-2 records.

Special teams units were a notable strength for Seattle during its 2025 Super Bowl run under coordinator Jay Harbaugh, and the addition of Charles is viewed as a way to reinforce coverage roles on a short week.

General manager John Schneider has previously called Charles a dominant gunner whose physical tools make him worth the wait after the injury setback.

With the activation official, Charles is expected to make his Seahawks debut Thursday night at Empower Field at Mile High.