Tuesday marked a one-month anniversary of sorts for Kyle Davies, but a date the second-year FC Dallas defender would rather forget.
On March 27 against Houston, Davies started for FCD at center back while Ugo Ihemelu was out with a hamstring injury. He played well, but in the 55th minute, had to leave the field after breaking his right arm following a collision with Dynamo striker Dominic Oduro.
The original prognosis was six to eight weeks. To help set his arm, a metal plate and six screws were inserted and Davies wore a cast for around a week. Even though it’s normal to wear one longer than that, he requested an earlier removal and was quickly seen on the side of FCD’s training field riding an exercise bike.
Now, he knows his return is approaching. On Monday, Davies suggested he’d like to be back on May 8 when D.C. United visits Pizza Hut Park. It’s a target date he’d like to meet.
“Things are going well and I feel good about where I am,” the defender said after practice on Tuesday. “I’m still shooting for May 8. Realistically, I’m not sure but that’s my target at this point. Depending on what my x-ray looks like at the start of next week, I’m looking to start training next week, hopefully get back into it and work for that spot again.”
However, FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman feels it might be a bit longer before Davies is back on the pitch.
“It’s probably going to be more mental on Kyle’s part,” Hyndman said. “He’s an aggressive player. He’s a player that will go down on a slide tackle and I don’t know if he’s prepared to go in there 100 percent and come down on his arm. I think next week he’ll start training for us.”
Even before his arm injury, Davies had been slowed in preseason after having hernia surgery in the offseason, rare occurrences for a guy who really hasn’t been injured much at all during his career.
“Yeah, I’m not a guy who gets hurt,” he said. “So it’s been a frustrating couple of months. But trying to put a positive spin on it, this arm thing has helped me get back into shape after the hernia. Hopefully I can just come back stronger and not have another injury.”
