FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It may not quite be a full restoration of order for the New England Revolution. But the return of Jermaine Jones helps to return a little normalcy to a club that has gotten off to a slow start this season.
The Revolution’s Designated Player joined his teammates for the first time this year on Thursday morning, following an extensive rehabilitation process in Los Angeles after his surgery to repair a sports hernia back in early February.
“It’s good to get him back in,” coach Jay Heaps told the media on Friday. “Having the surgery and doing the rehab in LA was really good for him. He’s starting to get closer to game speed. He needs a little bit more time around the ball and around the guys, and that’s what we’re going to do over the next couple of days and weeks and months.”
As far as a timetable for when he might be match-ready, the midfield responded that it still may be “a week, two weeks that I have to go.”
According to Jones, this is an injury that he has been dealing with since he was in Germany at the beginning of last year, joking that it occurred while he was playing with his dogs.
He played through the pain in the World Cup and again when he helped lead New England to the MLS Cup last season, with each stop along the way blocking a possible chance at having things repaired.
“The first time I feel it was in Germany, but I keep going,” said Jones. “There was not a real chance to take the break. Normally I was saying that after the World Cup I’m going to do it, but then everything moved here. Then I said okay, after the [MLS Cup] final I’ll do it. Then [USMNT] January camp, Jurgen [Klinsmann] said 'I want you to come in.' Then I saw the chance with all this talk with the league and the players.”
A hard-nosed midfield general, there were times last season where Jones took some hard knocks, but kept going at what seemed like full bore.
However, he did reveal on Friday that he had never been fully healthy since joining the Revolution, something that will change when he hits the pitch for the first time this season.
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He admits to finally feeling no pain and that he will be playing after leaving something behind last season.
“It was over a year that I was playing with it,” said Jones on the injury. “Last season I was not 100 percent, but still played okay. I’m happy that I can play without pain.
“For me it’s always, if I got pain somewhere on my body, this is not a problem. I don’t care if I have to get a yellow card or go against my teammates sometimes, I want to win the games. I think last season you can see that. We lost the finals and that’s the point that’s pushed me this season. I want to go there again, but this time we’ll try to get that cup.”
