When forward Jordan Morris pulled up injured in the second half of the Seattle Sounders’ 1-1 home draw with the LA Galaxy last Sunday, it didn’t look good. His MRI this week confirmed those suspicions.
Head Coach Brian Schmetzer addressed Morris’ status after training on Wednesday, citing a significant strain.
“We’re not talking about days on this one,” Schmetzer said. “We’re talking about weeks.”
Morris, 22, has three goals and an assist in his sophomore campaign and had just returned from the United States national team during CONCACAF 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Morris battled extensive travel and heat the past couple weeks, playing first in Harrison, N.J., before starting and going the full 90 minutes at Honduras in a hot and humid San Pedro Sula.
Morris tweaked his hamstring last year, but came back relatively quickly. He was the first Sounders field player in the club’s MLS history to play in every regular-season match.
“He’s cognizant of when he’ll be ready,” Schmetzer said of Morris. “He’s smart enough, he’s old enough, he’s been through aches and pains.
“Obviously he’s down in the dumps a little bit, but injuries happen,” Schmetzer continued. “That’s reality. He was pretty resolute on trying to get back to help us the last couple games and into the playoffs, but we’ll see.”
Morris’ injury almost certainly means Will Bruin will start up front for the foreseeable future. Bruin has eight goals and two assists in 25 games with 15 starts, rotating between a starting role with Morris on the left wing and a supersub late in games. Despite the opportunity, though, Bruin is upset to see his fellow forward get injured, especially in a crucial time of year.
“For somebody like Jordan, you just hate to see it even more because of all the stuff coming up [toward the end of the MLS season and with the U.S. national team] and all the work that I see he puts in all the time,” Bruin said. “It’s just unfortunate, but it’s part of the game.”
The extra rest Bruin has received during the year, as opposed to playing nearly every match in the Houston heat for the first six years of his career, has him feeling fresh and energized as the playoffs near. He’s been excellent at popping up at good spots and turning half-chances into goals, and the Sounders are going to need his continued offensive output.
“It’s Bruin and [Clint Dempsey], those are the forwards we’ve got on our team,” Schmetzer said. “We need to get some of the other guys to chip in there a little bit to account for Jordan. It’ll be an adjustment, what style of play we use without Jordan. Jordan was very effective stretching the field for us, so we’ll need to solve that one, but we have a strong enough team to compete on any given Saturday and Sunday.”
