Sean Locklear will start for Seahawks on Sunday

RENTON — The left side of Seattle's line should be all right this time.

At least that's coach Jim Mora's hope after he said Sean Locklear will start at left tackle Sunday in Arizona. It will be the first time Locklear has played since suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 at San Francisco. Locklear replaces Damion McIntosh, who started the past two games at left tackle.

"He had a good week," Mora said of Locklear. "He has been in the system longer than Damion so there's a little more familiarity. Continuity, repetitions together, that will help us."

Josh Wilson will start at right cornerback ahead of Ken Lucas for the second consecutive week, and no one's status is so much as questionable for Sunday's game. But the biggest change will be on the offensive line, where Seattle is healthier than it has been all season.

Next to Locklear will be left guard Rob Sims, who also missed Seattle's last game against Arizona with a high-ankle sprain.

Seattle's only absence along the line is Walter Jones, who will not play a down this year. Neither did Mike Wahle, who was slated to be the starting left guard until he failed to recover from shoulder surgery.

Seattle's health along the left side deteriorated from there. Locklear has been out nearly two months and Sims went down in Week 4 at Indianapolis.

When Seattle played Arizona four weeks ago, Kyle Williams started at left tackle, Steve Vallos at left guard. Williams was an undrafted player in his third year who began the season on Seattle's practice squad. Vallos was a seventh-round pick who began the season filling in at center.

Arizona has a very good defensive front, especially tackle Darnell Dockett, who is versatile enough to line up all along the line. Throw in the fact that Seattle trailed 14-0 before the Seahawks' offense even took the field, and the recipe was there for the Cardinals to turn up the pass pressure and barbecue quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

"We didn't help ourselves because we got behind 17-0," Mora said.

The absence of Jones still hangs like a shadow over Seattle's line, but since he was coming back from microfracture surgery on his left knee, the Seahawks had to at least understand it was a possibility he would be limited this season.

Now it's time to get a measure of the adequacy of their No. 1 contingency plan as Locklear returns to the lineup at what is considered the most important position on the offensive line. President Tim Ruskell said before the season started Locklear was re-signed in 2008 with the idea he could be the successor to Jones at left tackle.

Turnover a new leaf

Seattle has committed 14 turnovers this season, and seven have come in the first quarter, a total that does not include the pooch kickoff Seattle failed to recover in its Week 6 loss to Arizona.

The Seahawks lost a fumble later in that first period to the Cardinals and committed two turnovers in their first two possessions last week, falling behind to Detroit.

Mora said he's given some thought to the possibility there's a correlation with his decision to defer after winning the coin toss the past two home games. The result is Seattle kicked off, beginning the game with its defense on the field.

"I've done that for the express reason that our crowd is such an express benefit to us defensively," Mora said. "We want to capture that enthusiasm that they bring into the stadium on Sundays immediately. It hasn't worked the last couple of weeks in particular in that we've given up long drives."

That was especially true in Week 6 against Arizona. The Cardinals drove 80 yards for a touchdown and consumed more than 10 minutes on their opening drive.

Notes

• Arizona receivers Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston are both listed as probable.

• Arizona linebackers Gerald Hayes and Chike Okeafor are listed as doubtful. Left tackle Mike Gandy is questionable.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com