Starting offensive tackle Mark Tauscher is hoping to play in Saturday night's preseason contest against the Arizona Cardinals, he told the media Thursday, just two days after injuring his left arm during practice.

"You're not doing any good being on the sideline," Tauscher said. "If you have to be there, you have to be there, but if you can get back and get back in the swing of things it only helps you and the rest of the (offensive line)."

Tauscher said he was pushing to be in the lineup Saturday not to live up to a tough-man's working code that tends to exist among linemen, but to provide the unit -- which is already without starting center Mike Flanagan due to a broken thumb -- with as much continuity as possible.

"I just don't want to miss anything, I think when you step out you lose some stuff," Tauscher said. "We pride ourselves on showing up to work every day and you take a beating (from your teammates) when you're not in there. That's the way it should be.

"I think that's the thing with the offensive line, you need to be there for continuity purposes and that's why I'm trying to get back."

While he did not rule out the possibility of Tauscher going to battle Saturday, GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman was a little more cautious in his prediction.

"I'm going to stop speculating because I haven't been accurate on that stuff," he said. "When he's well, he'll be ready to go. His elbow swelled up last night, so it's going to take a while to get him back."

After initial fears that Tauscher may have suffered ligament damage in his elbow, the final diagnosis was a forearm contusion, the result of taking an inadvertent helmet to his elbow during the team's four-minute offense period Tuesday.

Rookie Kevin Barry is Tauscher's primary backup at tackle, at least until veteran Earl Dotson returns to the lineup. Dotson has been sidelined with a knee injury, but has also experienced tightness in his hamstring during rehab.