Brent Richards has Successful Knee Surgery

Before the Portland Timbers traveled to Arizona Brent Richards injured his knee and was left in Portland for further evaluation and rest. According to the Timbers Brent underwent successful knee surgery to repair both his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a lateral meniscus tear. The recovery time period is set at 6 months.

Brent's situation could turn out a lot like El Trencito's situation last year as Portland will more than likely place Brent on the IR for the season as he recovers. Brent's injury comes at an inopportune time as Brent could have seen time at multiple positions. Best of luck to Brent and a speedy recovery.

With Brent's roster spot possibly open while he recovers Portland can now realistically look at keeping two, possibly three, of the trialists or draftees current training with the team during preseason.

Full Press release:

BRENT RICHARDS UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL KNEE SURGERY

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Timbers today announced that forward Brent Richards underwent a successful arthroscopy of his left knee late Monday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a lateral meniscus tear. Timbers Director of Medicine Dr. Richard Edelson performed the procedure at Sports Medicine Oregon in Tigard, Ore.

Richards, 22, is expected to be out approximately six months. He sustained the injury during training Jan. 26 in Portland.

A native of Camas, Wash., Richards was named the Timbers' 2012 Young Player of the Year, appearing in six regular-season matches during his rookie campaign last season. In total, he played in nine matches with the first team across all competitions and was the second-leading scorer for the Timbers Reserves with four goals in 2012. Richards signed as the club's first Homegrown Player on Jan. 4, 2012.