NORFOLK, Mass. -- New England Revolution defender Chris Tierney wanted to kick the ball. The ball trickled across the field as his teammates went for a water break. The slow pace invited Tierney to strike it.
Just before he started his approach, Tierney stopped in his tracks and aborted the idea.
From across the indoor facility, Revs striker Taylor Twellman yelled out to Tierney, telling him to tap the ball with his toe and forget about lashing the it across the field.
As Twellman correctly pointed out, the temporary satisfaction of hitting the ball wouldn't help if Tierney further aggravated his sprained knee. The warning served as another reminder to the eager Tierney that patience is required with training camp injuries.
"The guys like to give me a little bit of stick," Tierney said. "I'm still a rookie in a lot of the older guys' eyes. They're trying to help me out. They've been there before. They know that it's not worth it. Obviously, I want to be back and I want to be smashing balls around, but it's not the right thing to do right now."
A selection in the 2008 Supplemental Draft, Tierney mainly saw action in Open Cup, SuperLiga and CONCACAF Champions League games during the regular season. He made six appearances, four as a starter, in league play -- five of those coming in a six-game span from Aug. 9-Sept. 6.
But for the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against Chicago, Tierney was thrust back into the fray, starting at left back. However, a sprained knee in training between matches left him injured and out of the travel party for the Revolution's eventual season finale.
Revs head coach Steve Nicol said there wasn't any reason to push Tierney at this point during training camp, even though Tierney said his injury isn't a serious one.
"It's just a minor sprain," Tierney said. "It's a little tweak that takes a little bit of time. I feel like I could probably go right now if need be. I'm just trying to make sure and take the necessary precautions."
Instead of participating in fitness drills with teammates, Tierney receives extra treatment from head athletic trainer Sean Kupiec and ices down his bum knee. The arrangement isn't one that Tierney particularly likes.
"It's getting frustrating," Tierney said. "I'm getting a little itchy. I'm getting a little sick of not being able to play, but it's necessary. Now is not the time to do anything stupid and make this situation. It's definitely tough, but you have to do what you have to do."
Tierney might be one of the few players who would rather take the field and go through a collection of drills designed to improve fitness rather than sit out, rest and pop onto the field when the drills are over.
"I'm not one of those guys who comes up with a phantom injury when fitness time rolls around," Tierney said.
Over the next week or two, Tierney will continue to watch himself as he gradually returns to training. Despite missing the fitness work, the second-year defender thinks he'll be ready to go once he gets the all clear to resume training.
"I've been training really hard," Tierney said. "Fitness isn't that much of a concern for me. I feel as though I'm pretty fit. I think I can maintain that even with the injury. I hope to be back when we start going full force and we actually start playing."
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