Shortly after injuring his ankle in the second half of Real Salt Lake's 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Nat Borchers couldn't help feeling more than a little fearful at what the immediate future held for him.
Borchers had undergone offseason surgery on the same foot and, judging by the pain and swelling in his ankle, he had done something to necessitate another round of surgery.
Luckily for Borchers and the rest of RSL, it turned out to be a simple sprain and he was back on his feet in time for last weekend's 1-0 loss at Chivas USA.
"I was surprised it wasn't worse than what I initially thought," Borchers said. "I initially thought I had torn some ligaments in my ankle and I was really worried I'd have to be out a couple of weeks. But we have a great medical staff here. They took care of me Thursday and Friday and had me back on the field Saturday."
Borchers' rapid recovery late last week has been the exception to the rule for RSL when it has come to injuries involving the team's back four this season. One can excuse them if they might wonder whether or not some unseen party is hiding away a voodoo doll and sticking in random pins at inopportune times.
Neither Borchers nor Robbie Russell were available through the lion's share of the preseason after recovering from offseason surgery. Since that time, Ian Joy has yet to play a regular season match after injuring a hamstring in Real's final preseason exhibition match. And David Horst became the latest defender to get attacked by the injury bug when he suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee against the Galaxy.
Joy and Horst are still several weeks away from returning to action. Also sidelined for a lengthy period is starting goalkeeper Nick Rimando -- another 2008 defensive mainstay -- after a suffering a lacerated finger against Colorado.
It is a challenge to be shuffling defensive personnel because of injuries and RSL is doing the best it can to make due with an unpleasant situation.
"That type of stuff is out of our control," outside back Chris Wingert said. "If we get everybody healthy, that would be great. But, in the meantime, we just need to keep pushing forward and do the best with what we have."
Still, one challenging aspect is that it does not allow for the backline to develop the continuity that served RSL so well a season ago when their defense developed into the team's biggest strength.
With players moving in and out at points because of injuries and suspensions, that same brand of stability has been hard to produce in the early weeks of the season.
"I believe last year, at this time of the year, we were talking about how great our defense was," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "A lot of the games had the same players in the same spots. I think probably more than any other position on the field we need some comfort and some understanding amongst each other (in the back four). So that's been difficult to deal with this year."
The one positive through dealing with injury issues is that it has allowed younger players like Horst and Tony Beltran make more sizeable contributions than they were projected to make before the season. Depth has been the team's saving grace in dealing with these continued injuries.
Perhaps the biggest worry for RSL at this point is making sure they try to keep their younger players in their natural position as much as possible. Becoming a temporary utility player is not always the most helpful thing for a young player's long-term development.
"You spread yourself around too much and then all of the sudden you become good at all the positions and maybe not excellent at one," Russell said. "Which is why you have older players come in and play those utility roles. You want the young guys to kind of find their spot and develop there."
Persistent injuries to the back line have not dimmed the team's optimism that they have survived the worst that the injury bug has to offer. RSL is hopeful that in a short time the back four will be completely healthy again and resume its role as a source of strength for the team as a whole.
"That's the only way you can look at it," Borchers said. "We got great trainers and a great medical staff to look after us. We're just looking at these things as another bump in the road and we'll get over it soon."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
