Seahawks defensive end Ezekiel Ansah could make his highly-anticipated debut this Sunday against New Orleans. After recovering from shoulder surgery all offseason, Ansah returned to practice but was inactive for Seattle’s first two matchups.

Coach Pete Carroll said he expects Ansah to return this week to face the Saints.

“The expectation is that he is going to play this week,” Carroll said during his Monday press conference with reporters. “It’s just taken us this long to get through – we want to make sure everything was right, and he was right, mentality was right, enough reps – he’s had three good weeks of work behind him and he’s in really good shape. He worked really hard, he’s in terrific condition.”

Ansah is also likely to see significant time on the field as opposed to being held to a tight snap count during his first outing.

“He’s going to be able to play if he gets through the week and everything goes well,” Carroll continued. “He’ll play a considerable amount because he’s practiced hard enough to do that. That’s really going to be fun to see him out there and you’ll see how we use him and how he’s going to fit in and all that at game time.”

After an off-day Tuesday, Ansah and the Seahawks are set to resume practice Wednesday.