Sounders’ Jordan Morris: ‘I’m ready to go’

Seattle Sounders homegrown forward Jordan Morris participated in his first training as a member of the club today in Tucson.

He seems happy to have finally settled in after spending the past couple of weeks with the U.S. national team.

Morris said he feels ready to make his club debut Tuesday when the Sounders conclude their Tucson Desert Friendlies against Mexican club Celaya FC. Coach Sigi Schmid didn’t promise that, but it sounds like Morris could get a brief appearance.

Here’s some of what they had to say after the sunny training session:

JORDAN MORRIS

On his first session as a Sounder: It was good. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. It was good to get out here with the guys and get my first training under my belt.

On if his time with the national team helped him today: I think it’s good to always play with quality players like that. You get three weeks in a training environment like that it’s always good to help you prepare. But I’m just excited to be out here with these guys

On if he feels ready to play Tuesday: I haven’t talked to (coach Sigi Schmid) too much, but yeah, I’m ready to go.

Today compared to other times he has worked with Sounders: It’s pretty similar. I think it’s a little easier for me being part of the team now. You just feel more included. It’s not that I was uncomfortable, now it’s a similar environment.

On if Schmid has defined his role: I haven’t had a chance to really talk to him at all. Obviously, just come out and work hard and the rest is out of (my) control. Maybe we’ll talk in the near future.

On if he has received veteran advice: Not yet. They’ve all been very welcoming and supportive. It’s just my first day out here, so not too much yet.

On if it’s nice to finally settle in with Sounders for a while: Definitely. It was a long time coming for this decision. To be in a comfortable environment knowing that this is my team and where I’m going to be is awesome.　

Coach SIGI SCHMID:

On Morris’ work today: It was all right. We just wanted him to get some touches, be around the team with us. Obviously whenever you come off the national team, usually it’s a little bit of a grind, and he played 87 minutes on the Friday night, so we just wanted to make sure he gets a chance to recover.

On if he’s available to play Tuesday: Yeah, he’ll be available, but I don’t know how much we’re going to play him.

On if there’s an advantage to Morris joinging team in Tucson rather than Seattle: We just wanted to get him around the team, to start to integrate himself into the team. So it was good having the off-day was good, the Super Bowl, so he got together with three, four guys. I know a couple of the guys he got together with he knew, but a couple of guys were new guys on the team, so just to start that integration process was good. You can do more of that when you’re away from home than when you’re at home.

On if there’s a problem perception of Morris as a cure to all Sounders’ ills: I don’t think we have that many ills to cure to begin with. There’s no saviors out there in that regard. It’s a sport that requires 11 players and is not so much (like) basketball where you only have five guys: One or two guys can really turn things a lot more. He’s part of a team concept. He’s a good team player. He works hard for the group, and he’s shown the ability to do special things.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Sounders’ Jordan Morris: ‘I’m ready to go’."