Mental recovery: Jasper Löffelsend takes big step in ankle rehabilitation
Mental recovery: Jasper Löffelsend takes big step in ankle rehabilitation
Löffelsend returned to team training Monday as Real Salt Lake prepares for eight matches in the next month, and possibly more, following a 3-0 home loss at LAFC.
SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake received some good news Monday, which may seem strange after the club’s 3-0 home loss to LAFC over the weekend.
But when the players reporter to America First Field for a recovery workout for the starters, there was Jasper Löffelsend in full uniform, ready to undergo a full workout with the reserves just two days before another MLS match.
The more bodies, the better. And in Löffelsend’s case, a significant player from recovery who has been with the team for the past week but often did not participate in training activities (or at least, not in full).
But there he was Monday, going through a lengthy session guided by assistant coach Matt Taylor for the first time since he suffered an ankle injury in the final moments of training before RSL’s U.S. Open Cup opener at Las Vegas Lights FC.
And though it’s only been about few weeks of missed time, he’s also missed six matches — and Löffelsend is cognizant of the fact that he hasn’t suited up since April 22, a 3-1 win over San Jose when the forward-turned-outside back-turned-pivot midfielder also scored a goal, which made Monday’s return to the practice pitch with mostly reserve players a major milestone in his recovery.
“That’s what we live for, what we all love,” Löffelsend told Salt City FC. “The recovery process can be lonely at times, when you see all the guys stepping up and you stay behind in the room, working with the athletic trainers and all.
“I’m buzzing to be back and and buzzing to be able to help the team.”
Löffelsend’s return came two days after RSL’s 3-0 home loss to LAFC and with the club treading water with a swell of eight games in the next month that could include more depending on what happens next Wednesday at Colorado in the Open Cup (a few days after Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Cup rivalry, as well).
That makes Löffelsend’s return even more welcome.
His return also comes quicker than initially anticipated, when club officials thought Löffelsend’s ankle injury was significantly more severe. The German-born midfielder who starred at Pitt did, as well; after tearing a ligament in his ankle twice in college, Löffelsend knew the pain well — and the arduous recovery process that comes from injury, surgery and rehabilitation.
He still has a long way to go. But the recovery of a midfielder with a goal in three shots on target over 490 minutes, including six starts, is a welcome addition for Real Salt Lake as it finds itself with a league-low -10 goal differential.
“It’s great to have him back,” RSL assistant coach Matt Taylor said. “We had that run where we had two wins in three games, and right after that, he got hurt. Then he didn’t travel with us to the Open Cup match in Las Vegas, and that’s when we lost him.
“It happens; you lose good players, and you’ve got to adjust. But seeing him back and having him as an option, either on the bench or starting or on the field in some way, it’s good to have players back in this long stretch with a lot of games.”
Sometimes, that mental road block — such as watching your teammates do the things you are used to doing, while you have to sit back and allow for physical health, growth and wellness — can be just as difficult to manage as the physical rehabilitation.
“I feel like there are always those two parts that can go hand in hand,” Löffelsend said. “You can be mentally ready and physically not, or the other way around. I feel like that comes down to the athletic trainers, and they are doing a phenomenal job of helping you out of that hole, of building you out of that hole, but also trying to guide you through and give yourself that trust back. Everybody has it, at one point — injuring your ankle, your knee, whatever, and you just don’t trust it as much as anymore. So you go through all the exercises and recovery process to gain that trust back into your body to 100%, and to be able to do what you need to do.”
Taylor wouldn’t confirm if Löffelsend would be available as early as Monday’s mid-week match against Portland at America First Field (7:30 p.m. MT, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). Plenty of other factors will determine his formal return to play, including consultation with head coach Pablo Mastroeni, the athletic training and sports science staffs, and a variety of other factors.
But Löffelsend is putting himself in a position to be available for RSL soon, whether in the starting XI or off the bench. And that’s a positive step in his rehabilitation.