Seahawks sign DE Malliciah Goodman to take place of injured Quinton Jefferson on 53-man roster

The Seahawks on Tuesday made a roster move involving their defensive line, signing free agent Malliciah Goodman, a former member of the Atlanta Falcons, to take the place of rookie Quinton Jefferson, who was placed on Injured Reserve.

Jefferson suffered a knee injury in practice last week that required surgery.

Teams can bring back one player per year from Injured Reserve after eight games but while Jefferson could be a candidate — it’s unclear how severe his knee injury is —- it is expected the Seahawks will use that designation on linebacker Mike Morgan, who had sports hernia surgery earlier this month. That would mean that the season would be over for Jefferson, who was a fifth-round pick out of Maryland in the 2016 draft.

Jefferson played in three games, making one tackle in the season opener against Miami. He also had been dealing with a thumb injury that required surgery but was expected to return until suffering the knee injury in practice last week.

Goodman is a four-year NFL veteran out of Clemson who started one game for the Atlanta Falcons in 2013 and 10 in 2014 and who has played in 34 games overall, making 24 tackles.

The 6-4, 276-pound Goodman recently had a tryout with the Seahawks. He had been a free agent since being waived by the Falcons in the cutdown to 53 in September. Goodman was originally a fourth-round pick of Atlanta in 2013, taken No. 127 overall.

He played in only four games in 2015 a season in which he battled knee and triceps injuries. Goodman had lost about 25 pounds heading into the 2015 season, the first for former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as the team’s head coach, to try to become more of a pass rusher.

The Seahawks on Tuesday also released running back Zac Brooks off the practice squad. Brooks was a seventh-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. That leaves one open spot on the team’s 10-man practice squad.