ST. LOUIS — The Seattle Seahawks played without wide receiver Percy Harvin for much of 2013, but not by choice. Harvin’s hip injury limited him to one regular season game and an electrifying appearance in a Super Bowl rout of Denver.

On Friday, the Seahawks chose to play without Harvin for good, trading him to the New York Jets for a draft pick less than 48 hours before taking the field at Edward Jones Dome to battle St. Louis.

Minutes after a 28-26 upset loss left Seattle at 3-3, coach Pete Carroll denied the move was specifically related to reports that Harvin had fought former Seahawks receiver Golden Tate before the Super Bowl and quit on the team during last week’s home loss to Dallas.

“We are always trying to get better and get things right when we can,” Carroll said. “We thought that was the best thing for the club and it will help us down the road. I don’t know if you ever replace a special player like that totally, but it was the right thing for our team.”

Harvin played in Seattle’s first five games this year, catching a team-high 22 passes for 133 yards while rushing 11 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. He also returned 12 kickoffs for 283 yards.

But the baggage which came with Harvin apparently became too much for management to lug around. Former Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson told the NFL Network that he broke up the fight between Harvin and Tate about 24 hours before the 43-8 blowout win, then helped them iron out their differences.

A Seattle Times report Friday said that Harvin and wide receiver Doug Baldwin got into an altercation before the team’s final preseason game in Oakland on Aug. 28. It also claimed that Harvin balked at returning to last week’s game against Dallas, a subject Carroll opted not to discuss Sunday.

But Harvin’s teammates had no trouble discussing it. Running back Marshawn Lynch was, according to multiple reports, so distraught about the trade that he had to be talked onto the team bus after Friday’s practice to catch the team flight to St. Louis.

Defensive end Cliff Avril tweeted Friday that “this business is crazy … hate to see my boy Percy Harvin go.”

After Sunday’s loss, Avril said that the result had nothing to do with the circumstances surrounding Harvin’s departure.

“It’s a business. It just shows you what kind of business it is,” Avril said. “It’s unfortunate. I mean, he is a friend of mine and I feel bad in that sense. His girlfriend, his kids, his family, that’s why I feel bad.”

Baldwin, who caught seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown Sunday, figures to be the top target for quarterback Russell Wilson with Harvin gone. Carroll spoke optimistically about the play of Jermaine Kearse and rookie Paul Richardson, who combined for seven grabs and 83 yards.

Wilson, who made NFL history Sunday by becoming the first player to throw for 300 yards and run for 100 in the same game, said that Harvin and the Seahawks just weren’t a good fit.

“He’s a good football player, a great football player,” Wilson said. “I pray that he finds peace, I pray that it works for him in New York or wherever else it is. He fought hard for us. We just have to focus on us and what we can do together and how we can improve as a football team.”