Encouraging injury news for Jordan Morris, Brad Evans

With nearly two weeks still to go before the Seattle Sounders open the Western Conference Finals against the Colorado Rapids, the injury news is at least encouraging.

Not only was it revealed that an MRI showed nothing more serious than a strain in Jordan Morris’ hamstring, but Brad Evans has also returned to full training for the first time in a couple months. Evans’ last start came on Aug. 28 and he’s been limited to five appearances off the bench in the Sounders’ last 11 matches.

“He should be in a good mood, it's a gorgeous day and he trained in full,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said about Brad Evans. “He did absolutely everything in the training. First full, full day, no restrictions. It's good to have him out.”

The news on Morris wasn’t quite as encouraging, but was far short of the worst-case scenario. Schmetzer indicated they are hopeful Morris will be ready for the Nov. 22 match.

“No [timeline] really. They said kind of day to day and we'll go from there,” Morris said. “I had an MRI, and the results were pretty good. I’m just day to day and working to get back.”

Morris added that he was able to play on the strained hamstring for a solid 30 minutes, but it also likely contributed to his relative ineffectiveness in the match.

“I remember running back on defense on a couple plays and I felt it and was like ‘that doesn't feel right’ but I think where it happened was when Nelson played a ball across and I was reaching for it early in the game,” Morris said about the 16th minute pass that nearly resulted in a goal. “That's the only time I remember reaching with my left foot like that. I think it happened there and continued to get worse. I've never had an injury like this before so I thought maybe it was just tightness or whatever, but then they took me out at halftime.”

Schmetzer also said Andreas Ivanschitz was nearly back to full training after missing the Sounders’ last five matches and that Alvaro Fernandez is on a similar trajectory.

“They're on a good path, they're healthy, that's the way it goes,” he said.