Jordan Morris undergoing second MRI to assess injury

RENTON — Jordan Morris will undergo a second MRI on Tuesday in an attempt to better assess the hamstring injury he suffered in Saturday’s 1-1 tie with the Colorado Rapids.

Morris had an MRI shortly after the team returned to Seattle, but Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said those images were "hazy” and needed to be repeated before being sent out for assessment by a specialist in England. The Sounders are expecting to have those results by Wednesday.

Either way, Morris is almost certainly going to miss the Sounders’ next game against St. Louis City at home on Saturday. That would be the sixth game he’s missed this year due to injury.

Since returning from his second ACL injury at the end of 2021, Morris has been remarkably healthy and durable. Last year, he set a career high by playing in 44 of the Sounders’ 46 games across all competitions. The only reason he had missed consecutive games in the two seasons prior was because of international duty.

This was the second time this year that injury has forced him out of a game. He had come off the bench to play about 30 minutes a week earlier and came on at halftime of this game, but not for fitness reasons.

Asked if the team’s training staff possibly missed something in its assessment of Morris’ ability to return, Schmetzer seemed skeptical but did say “we’re going to find that out, we’ll do the best we can.”

“Jordan was ready to play, he wanted to start the game,” Schmetzer continued. “I made a decision to keep the same team on that won 3-0. That was my decision. He wasn’t happy about it. He was anxious to play.”

Replacing Morris

In the short-term, at least, the Sounders seem to be in good shape at the No. 9. Danny Musovski has gotten the bulk of Morris’ minutes over the last few weeks and has now scored in three consecutive games while also continuously putting himself in dangerous spots on the field. Musovski currently leads all MLS players with 1.23 xG per 90 minutes and is tied for fifth among qualified players with .79 goals per 90.

“He’s putting the work in,” Schmetzer said. “We’re going to have to ride him as long as we can.”

Musovski felt that the key to his recent run of form is as simple as getting minutes and being fit.

“I feel like I’ve been feeling really healthy late,” he said. “That allows me to train at a high level and I feel like if I’m doing that consistently in training, it makes the games a whole lot easier.”

Anyone else?

Another option could be Tacoma Defiance striker Osaze De Rosario, who is off to a blazing start with eight goals in six matches. He was training with the Sounders on Tuesday and has previously been signed to a short-term loan, but has not yet appeared in a MLS game.

The son of MLS legend Dwayne De Rosario, the 23-year-old came to the Defiance last year hoping to kickstart his career. De Rosario had six goals while moving in and out of the Defiance lineup. But he finished of 2024 by scoring four goals while on international duty with Guayana and has carried that momentum into this season.

Schmetzer indicated the team first wants to see how De Rosario does in next Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers before making any bigger decisions.

“He's got a big opportunity there,” Schmetzer said. “Depending on what happens with Jordan, if there’s a chance to sign him maybe we will.

“He’s scored a lot of goals for Defiance, but he’s got to do it against better competition and he's got a chance against the Timbers.”

Open Cup tickets

After much back and forth, the Sounders have decided to sell tickets for next Tuesday’s Open Cup match against the Timbers. The tickets will first be made available to Alliance Members on Wednesday. In the first three rounds of the Open Cup, the Defiance did not sell tickets. Instead, all Alliance Members could get in free, while other fans could gain access by making a donation to the Rave Foundation.