BRIDGEVIEW, Ill -- Seattle Sounders midfielder/defender Brad Evans made his first appearance of the 2017 season on Saturday in Seattle's 4-1 loss at the Chicago Fire when he entered in the 79th minute for Clint Dempsey.
Evans had been sidelined with a calf injury prior to the season-opener and was originally slated to miss five-to-seven weeks. He made his first appearance on the matchday roster against Toronto FC on May 6 before finally seeing the field against the Fire, his first action since MLS Cup 2016.
"You play this game to play in games, not to practice or sit on the sidelines," Evans said Saturday. "The ultimate reward is to get minutes. It's been a long time, but I'm happy to get 15 minutes and progress from there."
Evans had been healthy through the early stages of the offseason before aggravating his calf in preseason. He was shut down for three-to-four weeks and had to start his preseason over, which he said was difficult because he was competing against his teammates who were already 100 percent fit.
The Sounders will need Evans in the next couple weeks given how banged up head coach Brian Schmetzer's squad is, especially on the back line. Chad Marshall returned Saturday after missing three matches with lower back pain, while Roman Torres and Oniel Fisher are on the sideline dealing with hamstring strains.
"I had a couple setbacks along the way, but ultimately the goal is to be healthy and get more minutes when I can," Evans said. "The goal is to ease into it."
