Colorado Rapids Practice Notes: March 15, 2018

Practices are different this year. They are faster paced and more focused. As Matt Pollard described it when we were talking today, they build up to full-pitch play by doing general body warm-ups, individual drills, 3v3 drills, group drills, and then full (or mostly full) field scrimmaging.

Here are a few player updates:

Stefan Aigner

Aigner is back to full practice with the squad. He was playing with what seemed to be the second-string group, but I would expect that to change by next week.

Shkelzen Gashi

A couple of weeks ago, Gashi was on the sideline working with a trainer. I didn’t see him at all today. He officially has a calf strain, which can be a real pain to rehab, but I think we were all hoping to see the Albanian on the pitch by now. If we assume he injured himself about four weeks ago, hopefully it will only be a couple more weeks before he is back at practice.

Jack McBean

McBean was running around the field and then went back into the building when the guys started doing drills. I don’t think it’s anything serious—he probably just got a little knock in practice and it’s more a precaution than anything else.

Joe Mason

I was looking for a new guy with brown hair, but after seeing Mason at practice today, he is yet another blond white guy to add to the likes of Aigner, Johan Blomberg, Kip Colvey, and Jack McBean. He’s smaller than I thought (in stature) but is quick. He seemed to fit in, even though he’s only practiced with the team a couple times so far. Mason was running with the regular starters, so I think we’ll see him sooner rather than later.