The Houston Dynamo last week had a "new" teammate running through full training for the first time since early in the preseason.
Defender Eddie Robinson, who underwent micro-fracture surgery on his knee earlier this year, returned to full training last Thursday. For the veteran defender, the return to practice has brought a little pain, but not to his surgically repaired knee -- and a renewed appreciation for the ability to play soccer professionally.
"My legs are heavy and my toes are paying the price because my calluses are gone, but I don't think [about my knee] at all," said Robinson. "Getting back out there is so much fun. Sometimes you get complacent and forget how lucky you are to be doing this. I have been missing it for six months and it's so nice to be back out there."
Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear was pleased to see Robinson return to training with the team and said there is no set timetable, other than to try to get him fit soon.
"We thought about bringing him in easy and he didn't want it that way," said Kinnear. "We'll see how he gets through this [past] weekend, but so far so good and he looks OK. [The plan is to] just get him back in and get him as fit as quick as possible without any setbacks and hopefully have him available as soon as we can."
Robinson was offered the opportunity to train with the squad a week ago, but in typical fashion, he refused.
"The [training staff] asked last week if I wanted to go in to full training and take it easy," he said. "I said I would rather take another week and work hard and make sure my knee is strong so I can get back in and go strong 'cause I don't really I have [a lower] gear."
Robinson applauds the Dynamo athletic training staff for their hard work and helping him get ready to start practicing with the full squad again.
"My last competitive game was the game before Thanksgiving," said Robinson, a 2007 MLS Best XI member and finalist for league Defender of the Year honors. "I credit the training staff for the last couple of weeks for really pushing me and really getting my legs back so that when I stepped into training I didn't bring the level down and I don't have the risk of getting hurt."
While Robinson is now practicing again with his teammates, there were times were the veteran defender doubted whether he would ever recover from his surgery.
"Mentally I have been up and down," he said. "I started out quick with rehab and I was ahead of pace and I was on a high. I hit a lull where I went a month or two and there wasn't any progress.
"That's frustrating because it wears on you and you aren't sure if you are going to ever play again," Robinson continued. "Every injury I have ever had, there has always been constant progress towards healing. There were a couple of months were that wasn't the case and it weighed on my mind. It really got me thinking about other things, but right now it feels great and hopefully there isn't any swelling and my knee is good to go.
"I'll be the first to admit that I am not 90 minutes fit yet and I am not going to be scratching for a place in the starting XI for a couple of weeks," he said. "[But], I would expect to be fully fit by the end of September.
In the meantime, Robinson is just hoping to contribute any way possible over the last two months of the season. Even if for now that just means pushing his teammates in practice.
"With the addition of a couple of guys [this year], I have seen other guys pick up their games because we all know our spot in the first team isn't secure," he said. "I hope that guys are now looking over their shoulder going Eddie's back, I am now going to have to pick up my game to keep playing. Because that's the best thing to have on a team is competition for every spot as it makes sure everybody is giving all they have got.
"If it is 30 minutes here or 45 minutes there, with all the games that we have, that will give some guys a rest," Robinson continued. "Playing as many games as we have over the last couple of years, you've seen how important guy one on the roster is and guy 23 is. Everybody is putting in minutes. My goal is to get to a point where I can put in minutes and contribute and I don't think I am too far off."
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
