TEMPE, Ariz. -- The requirements for Troy Niklas' return to the field are quite simple these days.

If he can push a sled, he can play.

“He’s a damn tackle, he ain’t no wide receiver,” Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “He don’t need to be worrying about making cuts, so he better have his ass back on the practice field next week.”

Niklas, Arizona’s rookie tight end, heard the same message in the training room Friday, when he missed his ninth straight practice with a sprained ankle suffered in Denver in Week 5. He’ll miss his third straight game Sunday when Arizona hosts Philadelphia.

This is just the lastest injury to plague Niklas’ six months in the NFL. He came into the league recovering from hernia surgery and then broke a bone in his right hand in June. And now the ankle.

“Definitely been a pretty unreal series of events,” Niklas said. “Unfortunate, I guess. I’m trying to stay positive and heal up as fast as I can so I can get back out there.”

But staying positive after three setbacks since he was drafted is much easier said than done.

“It’s pretty tough,” Niklas said. “Just being injured is one of the worst things about playing and for me, watching the team go and win games, it’s awesome seeing them win and having success. It just sucks that you’re not part of it.”

Every day he misses is another day Niklas feels like he’s falling behind. But his ankle is close enough where a return next week is a good possibility.

As Arians said, as long as Niklas can push a sled, he can return to practice.

“I just got to be out there and be able to do my job,” Niklas said. “As I heal up I’ll just be able to do more and more.

“I think just getting back out there is the biggest thing regardless of what I’m doing.”