Hasselbeck Will Play on Sunday

Despite a cracked bone in his left wrist, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will play next Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, head coach Pete Carroll said during his Monday morning appearance on the Brock & Salk Show on 710 ESPN Seattle.

"Matt had a very good report today, after all the scans and everything that they did. He does have a couple of little things cracked in there (his left wrist), but he managed through it," Carroll said. "It's going to be an uncomfortable week for him, but he'll be able to play and we've just got to do a good job of managing him through the week."

Carroll also discussed his decision to go for it on a 4th-and-1 play in the final two minutes of the second quarter, instead of having Olindo Mare attempt a 34-yard field goal that would've given the Seahawks a 10-point lead before halftime with his team getting the ball to start the 3rd quarter.

"I didn't want to not go up 20-10, I wanted to see if we could get a touchdown and not give them the ball back when we were down in there," Carroll said. "It's really just, again, I think I've said this before, it's just part of my nature. You know, I've grown accustomed to being extremely aggressive on offense. Always looking to push the envelope in these opportunities and to count on your guys to make that happen.

"That was really a very normal NFL decision to kick that football right there. In retrospect, kicking the football would've been a great decision. It would've been just fine--kick the ball, go up 20-10 and all that. And counting on Olindo, it had nothing to do with that. I love him. We totally regard his performance at the highest level.

"But it was also a chance to take a foot, and make it, and let's go at 'em and send the message to our guys that we can do this. Well, we didn't get it done. We had a terrible quarterback sneak play and the quarterback gets pounded.

"If I could kick my own butt, I would have."

In other Seahawks injury news, Carroll said that Russell Okung is "really close" to resuming what's been a frustrating season injury-wise for the sixth overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft. The team will see how is in practice this week before making a determination on whether or not he plays against the Saints on Sunday.

Fullback Michael Robinson (hamstring) might make it back this week, and rookie wide receiver Golden Tate is close to returning from an ankle injury, as well. Carroll said it will be a struggle for starting defensive tackle Colin Cole (ankle) to play this week.

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