Heading into the second half of the 2019 season, the Seahawks will be welcoming back one player from injured reserve and losing another in the process.

Though tight end Ed Dickson hasn’t yet been added to the 53-man roster, Seattle placed starting free safety Tedric Thompson on injured reserve with an apparent shoulder injury, likely bringing his 2019 season to an end. Defensive end Dekoda Watson was signed to fill his vacant roster spot.

The decision to deactivate Thompson came out of nowhere, as coach Pete Carroll dropped the surprising news on Wednesday that the third-year safety will need surgery for a torn labrum in his shoulder that has been "bugging him" since last season.

"He's been really toughing it out for a good while." Carroll told reporters. "We're gonna miss him. He's been a real integral part of our stuff, a really good teammate. Love the guy and hate that he's not gonna get to play, but we gotta fix him up."

The much-maligned Thompson consistently struggled in coverage, surrendering a long touchdown pass to Bengals receiver John Ross in the season opener and drawing Carroll’s ire after giving up a 50-yard completion to Myles Boykin against the Ravens two weeks ago.

However, Thompson had been playing better as of late, recording critical interceptions in wins over the Rams and Browns last month. Carroll complimented him for strong play in Sunday's 27-20 win over the Falcons as well.

In six starts, Thompson registered 19 tackles, two picks, and two passes defensed.

Coming back from a minor knee procedure, the Seahawks hope the 32-year old Dickson will be able to suit up on Sunday against the Buccaneers. While he currently doesn’t count against the 53-man roster and can practice, another move will need to be made before he can play in the game.

Without a practice under his belt yet, Carroll won't know until the end of the week whether or not Dickson will be available on Sunday.

"I don't know that yet. He's been on the walkthrough fields so far. He hasn't had one day of practice in months and months. We just need to break him in and see where he is."

Carroll mentioned that Dickson was in good enough shape that the team has been able to ramp up his activity over the past three weeks hoping he'd be able to transition back to the field quickly. The Seahawks will just have to play it by ear and see how he responds.

In 10 games for Seattle last season, Dickson caught 12 passes for 143 yards and scored three touchdowns. With starting tight end Will Dissly out for the rest of the year, the team could certainly use him down the stretch alongside Luke Willson and Jacob Hollister.

With Dickson potentially being activated later in the week, Watson’s position on the roster may be temporary. The nine-year veteran has produced 152 tackles and 6.0 sacks while playing for five teams and most recently appeared in four games for the 49ers in 2018.