RENTON — The Seahawks will likely see the return of Russell Okung to the starting lineup Sunday after the first-round pick missed the last three games with a high ankle sprain.
Okung has played only sparingly because of injuries.
“Russell practiced very well today. He went with the first group the whole time and he’s prepared to start. That’s a real good sign for us,” coach Pete Carroll said.
Matt Hasselbeck will start despite two cracked bones in his left wrist.
Hasselbeck didn’t take snaps from center on Wednesday and even needed J.P. Losman to help him tie his cleats to get out to practice, but he was back taking snaps on Friday and is ready to play.
“He had a great week. He really did it just right. He’s strong. Even when you go back to the week that he missed, that helped him physically. And you can see it. He was throwing the heck out of the football today. A few more limited throws during the week seems to be just adding to his juice as we get to the end of the week,” Carroll said.
Hasselbeck hopes to keep the offensive momentum rolling from an impressive showing against the Arizona Cardinals last week. With Okung back at left tackle, the Seahawks would finally have all five pieces of their offensive line in place to try to build consistency down the stretch.
“It’s not defense — it’s not like you’re just chasing the ball,” Hasselbeck said. “It’s all about communication; it’s all about all those things. So that is a challenge and we try not to talk about it or whatever, but what’s real is real. I think that’s one of the things that makes me feel excited that, ‘Hey, we’re just going to get better as we go.’ Because we have settled in on a group and we should just improve now. That can’t be an excuse.”
The Seahawks will still be missing some pieces Sunday. Nose tackle Colin Cole will miss his third straight game with a high ankle sprain. Fullback Michael Robinson is likely out as well with a hamstring injury that has kept his sidelined the past three weeks. Wide receivers Golden Tate and Brandon Stokley are listed as doubtful as well. Tate sprained his left ankle three weeks ago and Stokley has a strained calf that forced him to miss last week’s game in Arizona.
Carroll was more optimistic Stokley could play but called him a game time decision.
Safety Earl Thomas missed practice Friday to travel to a memorial service but will join the team in New Orleans for the game.
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