Potential long-term injury to Jaylin Lindsey portends defensive dilemma for Sporting KC

If Tuesday night’s 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Club Leon in the Leagues Cup wasn’t bad enough, salt was rubbed into Sporting Kansas City’s wounds Friday afternoon.

Kansas City coach Peter Vermes confirmed that outside back Jaylin Lindsey will be out for “weeks” and potentially “a couple of months” following an injury he sustained early in Tuesday’s match.

The 21-year-old defender suffered a hamstring strain in the 12th minute of the game at Children’s Mercy Park, providing Sporting KC fans with a sight they didn’t want to see: an injury to a key player in a game that many saw as meaningless.

Vermes was unable to give a precise timetable for Lindsey’s return, but a hamstring strain will typically take four to eight weeks to fully heal. Additional time will be needed for Lindsey to regain full fitness and re-integrate into the lineup.

In a best-case scenario, Lindsey returns to full fitness in late September and is available for the squad’s final lead-up to the playoffs.

Worst case? Lindsey misses most of the rest of the regular season before returning just in time for the playoffs in November.

Centerback Nicolas Isimat-Mirin is also ruled out for Saturday’s game at FC Dallas with a hamstring injury. The French defender went down against Colorado last weekend, but Vermes doesn’t expect him to miss much playing time.

Lindsey’s injury is a weird one. A hamstring strain typically stems from the overuse of a muscle until it is pushed beyond its limit by a sudden movement. But even amid Sporting KC’s hectic schedule of recent weeks, he hadn’t been pushed all that hard.

He played a full 90-minute stint in Colorado last Saturday, which may have led to his muscles not being ready for another game just three days later. But before the Colorado game, Lindsey had played just 12 minutes against LAFC and didn’t play at all in the two games before that.

“A lot of times those are flukey injuries that are completely random at times,” said SKC teammate Graham Zusi, who plays the same position as Lindsey and has developed a close relationship with the youngster in recent years. “All you can do is dive into your rehab in full force and try to get back as soon as possible.”

Where does that leave Sporting KC? The club plays three games in a nine-day stretch starting Saturday night in Dallas, but then life gets calmer for Vermes’ team. Sporting has just two midweek games in September and then gets a break at the start of October thanks to the FIFA international window.

For now, Zusi is the only seasoned right back on the team. Luis Martins and Amadou Dia can continue to rotate on the left side of defense, and there’s even a chance Dia could man the right side of the defense to give Zusi some rest.

Kayden Pierre, 18, could earn minutes to provide added rest for Zusi. The teenager made his first appearance for the Sporting KC first team against Leon, replacing Lindsey, but he has looked out of his depth against superior opponents.

The opportunity to play with a more experienced lineup than the one Sporting used against Leon could certainly help his game. His appearances could also be limited to late substitutions to keep Zusi’s minutes from reaching absurd heights.

Vermes said after the loss to Leon that his players aren’t “supermen” and need rest, which resulted in the young lineup he fielded for that game. If there’s one player on the squad who can come close to being a superman, however, it’s Zusi.

But Zusi turns 35 next week and can’t be expected to play flat-out for the rest of the regular season. He knows as much, but that won’t stop him from trying.

“The games are coming faster, with few rests in between, so this stretch especially is going to be a whole lot of focus on rest and recovery,” he said. “I’m feeling good at the moment, but I know that I have to stay on top of everything I do to make sure that I’m fresh for the next game.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Potential long-term injury to Jaylin Lindsey portends defensive dilemma for Sporting KC."