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Sidelined for all of training camp and preseason by hand and toe injuries, Arizona Cardinals standout linebacker Karlos Dansby has returned to practice this week, but might not return to the starting lineup because the unit has played so well without him.

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A third-year veteran and once regarded as a core player on the Arizona defense, Dansby, 24, is listed as "probable" on the Arizona injury report. It's questionable, though, where he will play and how many snaps he will log if he returns for Sunday's divisional matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.

"We haven't decided what role he will play," coach Dennis Green told the local media early this week.

Coming off a 2005 season in which he had one of the best all-around years of any strongside linebacker in the league, it seemed clear that Dansby was earmarked for a huge role in the continued improvement of the Cardinals' defense, and team officials hinted they had targeted him for a long-term contract extension.

But then Dansby underwent surgeries to repair ligament damage to his right pinkie finger and left thumb, missed time with a strained hamstring, and subsequently suffered a toe injury on his left foot. That injury did not require surgery, but the extensive treatment kept Dansby off the field for all of camp. At one point, Dansby even suggested that the toe injury might be career-threatening.

Add to all of that the fact that Green was said to be less than satisfied with Dansby's lack of participation on the voluntary segment of offseason practices.

In the absence of Dansby, former defensive end Calvin Pace, who Cardinals officials feared might turn out to be a first-round bust, switched to strongside linebacker and has played well. It will be difficult, now that the Arizona coaches have defined a role for Pace, who has embraced the switch, to move him back to end or bump him from the lineup. If the Cardinals decide to move Dansby to weakside linebacker, he will have to battle incumbent Orlando Huff for the starting job there. The most likely scenario is that Dansby will return as a reserve and will have to earn more playing time.

	Dansby

There is no denying Dansby's athletic abilities, but the Cardinals wanted him this offseason to work more on the mental side of the game. His lack of practice time, though, precluded that.

The former Auburn standout started in 27 of 30 appearances in his first two seasons in the league. In a 2005 performance that demonstrated his all-around playmaking skills, Dansby registered 103 tackles, four sacks, three interceptions, five passes defensed and three fumble recoveries. He returned two of the interceptions for touchdowns.

A second-round pick in the 2004 draft, after having been projected by most scouts as a first-round prospect, Dansby has 171 tackles, nine sacks, four interceptions, three forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries in his first two NFL seasons.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here .