ACL injury could force Román Torres to miss start of 2016 season

Román Torres won't just miss the rest of the 2015 season, the Seattle Sounders center back could also miss at least the start of the 2016 campaign as well. That's the prognosis from Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey, who shared the bad news at Tuesday's training session.

Sounders GM says Torres suffered ACL tear. No specific prognosis but typically 6-9 month. Damion Lowe activated as MLS rosters freeze.

— Don Ruiz (@donruiztnt) September 15, 2015

Under a best-case scenario, Torres could be ready sometime in March, which is when the MLS season typically starts. The team won't fully know how serious of an injury it is or a more specific timeline for recover until the surgery is actually done. If there are complications, it's possible Torres could be out until early summer.

The good news is that surgeries like this are reasonably common in the sports world and players tend to make full recoveries.

In the meantime, the Sounders will likely have to decide if moving Brad Evans back to center back or using Zach Scott there is the best option. That decision could be delayed at least a week, though, as Evans is undergoing a concussion protocol after being removed from halftime of Saturday's game.

That was the same game in which Torres went up for a header with Panamanian national teammate Anibal Godoy. Torres' left leg hit awkwardly and he immediately went down in obvious pain. Torres was able to walk off the field without a stretcher, but was replaced by Scott.

Here's the injury:

Torres had played in four league matches with the Sounders since his high-profile signing on Aug. 12. The Sounders had gone 2-1-1 in his starts and are 4-2-1 across all competitions since he signed.