Healthy O-linemen wanted

RENTON, Wash. – Brandon Frye, also known as the backup to the backup left tackle, was placed on the injured reserve list Tuesday, meaning his season is over.

And so it goes for the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive line in 2009.

Frye, who was starting in place of Sean Locklear, who was starting in place of Walter Jones, suffered a neck stinger in Sunday’s win over Jacksonville, and is done for the year. With only two healthy(ish) tackles on the roster, the Seahawks made a move to replace Frye, signing veteran tackle Damion McIntosh.

McIntosh, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons with Kansas City but was cut in September as the Chiefs trimmed their roster down to 53 players. McIntosh, who started his career as a third-round pick in San Diego, has also played for Miami, and has started 111 games in his career, including 93 at left tackle.

Either he or Kyle Williams will start at left tackle this week against Arizona. Williams, who was signed from Seattle’s practice squad Saturday, was forced into action when Frye went down, and Williams suffered a minor knee injury, though he was able to play through it. While Williams has a bit of an advantage having been in the Seahawks’ system, McIntosh should be able to catch up quick, because his offensive coordinator two seasons ago in Kansas City was Mike Solari, now the Seahawks’ offensive line coach.

The Seahawks’ line problems aren’t just confined to the tackle position. Guard Rob Sims is out with a high-ankle sprain, and rookie Max Unger is starting at guard, at least in part, because veteran Mike Wahle was forced to retire before training camp when a bad shoulder caused him to fail a physical. Center Chris Spencer also missed the first two games with a quadriceps injury.

Whether McIntosh or Williams starts, the Seahawks will be starting their fourth different offensive line in six games when they play the Cardinals Sunday.

Now factor in a starting quarterback playing with two fractured ribs, and the importance of the line is magnified even more. Want to know how important an offensive line is in football? Even T.J. Houshmandzadeh, a receiver who will tell anyone who will listen that he’s always open and that he should probably be getting the ball more, admitted last week that the offensive line trumps all.

“Offensively, football is about them guys up front, and it’s going to be like that when I’m playing and when I’m done playing,” he said. “That’s just what football is about. I probably get too much credit, and receivers and quarterbacks and running backs, you probably get too much credit as a skill player for what you do. But when those guys play well, normally teams play extremely well and they win. We’re only going to go as far as they take us. I’ll take the credit, but I’m not a fool who don’t know where it comes from.”

The line held up well, all things considered, last weekend, allowing just one sack, but Jacksonville is also last in the league in sacks. As they did last week, the Seahawks will likely continue to give help to the line by using two-tight-end formations or by having a tight end chip a defensive end before running a route.

“I think it’s something we really have to be conscious of all the time, we really do,” Seahawks coach Jim Mora said when asked about protecting Matt Hasselbeck. “Even when we get Walt back and Sean and Rob and those guys. It’s tough to win in this league without your starting quarterback, it’s just a proven fact. So we have to make sure that protecting our quarterback is always priority No. 1 offensively. That’s something you learn through the years, so we’ll be conscious of that.”