Portland Timbers Training Quotes and Notes: Captain Johnson

After captaining the Timbers through the preseason following the injury to Jack Jewsbury, Will Johnson's position as the captain of the Timbers was made official today by Caleb Porter. Porter praised Johnson's leadership and attitude, remarking that Will is a player who can "grab guys by the scruff of their neck..." (Check out Porter's full quotes here.)

Johnson is an intense player on the field who will, according to both Porter and Johnson himself, lead by example. When asked about his style of captaincy, Johnson talked about the necessity of remaining calm before admitting his attitude on the pitch can sometimes be described as "the calm before the storm."

Jewsbury, who is still recovering from a strained hamstring he suffered in the first minutes of the team's preseason opener against the Colorado Rapids, was named the "club captain" by Porter after serving as the team captain for the last two years.

Trialists and Guest Players

Trialist Frederic Piquionne was no longer with the team today after his trial concluded.

Kyle Altman and David Meves were the only non-roster players still in camp today.

Injuries and Absences

Hanyer Mosquera continued his journey back to fitness today, warming up with the team since going out with a hip flexor injury last week. Mosco spent the first fifteen minutes of practice with the rest of the team before breaking off to work one on one with John Cone.

Jack Jewsbury (hamstring) and Chris Taylor (MCL) worked out indoors for the first half hour of practice before coming outside to jog around the pitch for half an hour. Jewsbury, who Caleb Porter estimates will be healthy, if not fully fit, by Friday, stayed on the pitch to do some sprints and agility work for the remainder of practice.

Milos Kocic (hamstring) was also a late arrival to practice after doing his warm ups inside. Kocic came out to practice about half an hour into training and did some agility drills by himself before assisting with running the keeper drills.

Donovan Ricketts was again inside for practice and did not take part in today's training. Team officials say Ricketts is not injured.

Brent Richards was again riding an exercise bike on the sidelines of practice today as he rehabs his knee from surgery. Bright Dike also made an appearance on the sidelines of practice today, watching for several minutes from the log stand.

Practice Notes

• Trialist Kyle Altman showed off some nice touches in practice today, as well as a good leap and powerful header when called upon in the air.
• I seriously cannot say enough good things about Mobi Fehr's passing ability. It is just silky smooth. He seems to struggle a bit under pressure to get the pass off on occasion, but the potential there is fantastically high.
• In addition to the starters from Saturday, Jose Adolfo Valencia, Rodney Wallace, and Ben Zemanski all rotated in to the Timbers' first team group in practice today. Wallace and Zemanski lined up as central midfielders and Valencia lined up as an outside forward.
  
• Porter emphasized defensive shape in today's practice both in terms of the back line and when committing to high pressure up the field.