When will Jermaine Jones be back?

It has been six weeks since we have seen Jermaine Jones out on the pitch for the Colorado Rapids. The midfielder sustained an LCL sprain on July 4th vs. Portland, and every game since then, we have all crossed our fingers, hoping to see his name pop up on the starting XI (or at least on the bench). Last week, JJ told reporters that "it's getting better. But we talked to the doctors, the national team and the club about what we're going to do and said 'We need some more time.' It will maybe be another one or two weeks."

As frustrating as it is for us fans, it’s been tough for Jones, too, especially because he considers the injury a result of a dirty play to begin with. “Powell tried to control the ball and it got away. He goes in completely with two legs. One leg hit the ball and the other completely hit the inside of my knee. He knew exactly what he was doing. If it was me or [Nigel] De Jong doing that, he would have been completely suspended. That’s a dirty play and that’s it.”

According to MLSSoccer.com, the team averages 2.25 points per game when Jones is playing, but that has dropped to 1.5 ppg in the last six without him. It’s no secret that the Rapids offense has been in need of a kickstart, and many of us are hoping that Jones could be the catalyst to get it going—if he can get healthy enough to get back out there. Hopefully we will see him sooner rather than later, though two days ago, Jermaine tweeted “Good morning LA!!”, and one day ago posted a video with his daughter on Instagram with the caption, “power I need, especially in moments when I am injured! Love you all”.

What do you think? Is Jermaine Jones absence that big of a deal, or is there something else going on with the Rapids offense?