RENTON, Wash. -- It's been a difficult past three weeks on the injury front for the Seattle Seahawks.
Despite the return of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and defensive tackle Brandon Mebane this week, the Seahawks are still struggling through nagging injuries that will keep some players sidelined for a key NFC West matchup with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
First-round draft pick Russell Okung could miss his third game in a row, and sixth game of the season, because of a high ankle sprain suffered against the Cardinals three weeks ago.
"He's not quite right," coach Pete Carroll said Friday. "He didn't get enough work for us to be all excited about him."
Carroll said Okung's availability will be a game-time decision, and he's listed as questionable. Tyler Polumbus will get the start at left tackle after missing last week's game against the New York Giants due to a knee sprain.
Polumbus initially was a stopgap option when Seattle acquired him from the Detroit Lions during training camp for an undisclosed 2012 draft pick. Instead, he's started five games, four at left tackle this season.
"He's really been a significant part of stuff," Carroll said. "He's done a nice job for us, and he bounced back this week really nice and had a good week of work."
Three players likely will miss Sunday's game because of ankle sprains. Defensive tackle Colin Cole and wide receiver Golden Tate will miss their second straight game, while Mike Gibson injured his right ankle in practice on Thursday and was in a walking boot after practice Friday.
Michael Robinson has been unable to practice since injuring his hamstring against the Cardinals, likely leaving Seattle without a fullback active for the second game in a row.
Wide receiver Mike Williams had a career-high 11 catches for 87 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting with the Cardinals, but he, too, is banged up. Williams suffered a bruise just about above his knee in the Seahawks' loss to Oakland two weeks ago, and then he sustained an injury to his right pinky finger that required stitches this week.
"It's difficult, but it's football," Williams said. "You just try to get yourself as healthy as you can, or as good as you can for the game and then when you're playing you don't really try to think about it."
Carroll had the players practice without pads for the majority of the week to keep the team from taking an unnecessary pounding and to keep the players who are available fresh.
"Taking the pads off for this week so far, we played almost 90 plays as a defense, it just helps the guys kind of recover a little bit," Tatupu said. "You know everybody is going to go out there and they're going to hit, but just trying to take a banger or two off of the shoulders helps them out."
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press