SEATTLE – Sounders forward Jordan Morris will be out an estimated six weeks due to a left hamstring injury, coach Brian Schmetzer announced Thursday.
The club’s all-time leading scorer suffered the injury in last week’s 1-1 draw against Colorado. Morris entered the match in the second half and went to the ground in the 90th minute after making a transition run.
Morris walked off the field unassisted and suspected the injury wasn’t severe, according to Schmetzer’s postgame comments. But after undergoing two MRI’s, the evaluation showed the problem area being the same as Morris’ hamstring injury suffered in March during a CONCACAF Champions Cup road match.
That diagnosis caused Morris to miss four MLS matches. He also missed a match with an adductor injury, returning in the second half of a win against Nashville at Lumen Field on April 19.
“It’s the same spot and that’s what they’re concerned about,” Schmetzer said of the club’s medical team.
Schmetzer noted Morris participated in two weeks of full training before being cleared to initially play a road match against FC Dallas. He didn’t make that start due to the adductor injury. He played as a reserve for the following two matches because backup Danny Musovski netted a goal in each match to put Seattle on a three-game unbeaten streak.
Due to the reaggravation, Schmetzer suspects Morris will have frequent MRI’s to track progress during his rehab. Schmetzer hopes his striker is fully fit for the FIFA men’s Club World Cup matches in June at Lumen Field.
“Jordan felt fine,” Schmetzer said of recovery from the March hamstring injury. “He sprinted 98% of his max on multiple occasions. The 30 minutes he played against Nashville, the total distance in sprint was higher than the 45 minutes he played in Colorado, so it wasn’t a drastic increase in sprint distance that happened. So, we’re turning over everything just to figure it out.”
Musovski will likely continue to start up top for the Sounders (3-3-4), who host St. Louis City (2-4-4) at Lumen on Saturday. Schmetzer intimated earlier in the week the club could also sign forward Osaze De Rosario from the club’s MLS Next Pro side Tacoma Defiance.
The Guyana international was named MLSNP Player of the Month for April after scoring five goals during a three-match stretch, including two braces. De Rosario leads the league with eight goals in six matches.
De Rosario participated in Sounders training this week.
“He’s scored a lot of goals so far for Defiance, but he’s got to do it against better competition,” Schmetzer said.
If the Sounders don’t sign De Rosario for the weekend, the 23-year-old is guaranteed MLS competition on Tuesday. Defiance will host the Portland Timbers at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila for a Round of 32 U.S. Open Cup match.