COMMERCE CITY, Colo. ā Itās been a long wait for Jermaine Jones.
Acquired by the Colorado Rapids in last monthās sign and trade deal with New England, Jones has had to play spectator while serving a six-game suspension. With the suspension concluded, Jones is aching to return to the field when Colorado hosts the New York Bulls this Saturday (9 pm ET, MLS Live), which will mark his first competitive match in over 170 days.
āItās been almost four and a half months since Iāve played for a club,ā Jones told MLSsoccer.com. āIt was not easy. Weāre not talking about sitting out one game or two games, it was six games. Sitting out of the two [US] national team games [was tough]. Itās always tough to see your guys playing and know you canāt help them. Iām excited to get back on the field and play a regular season game tomorrow.ā
Jones isnāt the only one feeling the excitement for his Rapids debut; his coach and teammates have also been eagerly anticipating the 34-year-oldās return to the pitch.
āHeās excited to get out on the field and finally get some game minutes, so weāre all looking forward to having him on the field,ā Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. āI think heās been a great addition to the group.ā
Despite having not played a match for Colorado, heās been praised as a key contributor in the locker room and on the training pitch.
āHeās brought a great deal of leadership,ā Mastroeni explained. āHe leads by example which is important and the way he carries himself on the field has been fabulous.ā
As a veteran of multiple leagues around the world and the US national team, Jones has quickly gravitated to the role of mentor, offering to both push and guide the teamās young core.
āWhen I step on the field, Iām a guy who hates to lose,ā he explained. āIām a guy who likes to push my team, especially here because we have a young team. With my experience and the games that Iāve played in, I think I can help them.ā
One of the players Jones has already taken under his wing is newly signed Swiss-Albanian Designated PlayerShkelzen Gashi. With Jones and Gashi sharing the common tongue of German, Jones has aided the 27-year-old Gashi in his adjustment to a new team, league, culture and language.
āI would say sharing the same language helped him,ā Jones said. āI told Gashi to do the best he can do. Itās been really easy because all of the guys have welcomed us with open arms.ā
Saturday will also mark Jonesā first competitive match played at Dickās Sporting Goods Park since the infamous Snow Clasico of 2013, but despite weather forecasts predicting 3-7 inches of snow accumulation in the Denver area on Saturday night, Jones is hoping that the conditions wonāt be quite as bad as the match three years ago.
āWeāve talked a lot about that snow game, but I think tomorrow, everyone hopes the snow wonāt be that bad,ā he said.
Heās instead focused on helping Colorado continue their strong start to 2016, which has included wins in both of the Rapids home matches thus far and continued with a win over Sporting KC on Wednesday.
āI think Iām confident with the whole situation. We won in Kansas City so weāre in good shape,ā Jones said. āIt wonāt really be about me on Saturday, itās about the team and I feel really comfortable.ā