FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Jermaine Jones will be a busy man this week.
After playing 90 minutes in Saturday afternoon’s playoff-clinching 2-2 draw with the Montreal Impact, Jones traveled directly from Canada to Boca Raton, Florida, to meet up with the U.S. National Team ahead of Tuesday night’s friendly against Honduras.
While the U.S. has played a pair of friendlies since the FIFA World Cup ended back in July, this is Jones’ first time back with the national team since the Americans’ memorable run in Brazil, and he’s very much looking forward to once again representing the stars and stripes.
“I’m always excited when I can play for the national team,” Jones said. “I always was in touch with (U.S. head coach) Jurgen (Klinsmann), so we have a good relationship. I’m happy to see the boys back.”
Following Tuesday night’s meeting with Los Catrachos, Jones will head from Florida to Texas, where he’ll re-join his New England Revolution teammates for Thursday night’s nationally-televised meeting with the Houston Dynamo.
That’s three games in a span of six days while covering thousands of miles in the air, but Jones said it won’t be an issue based on similarly congested schedules he experienced while playing in Germany.
“I’m used to that,” he said. “No problem for me. I prefer to play than train.”
Of course, Revolution head coach Jay Heaps will have to consider all factors ahead of Thursday night as he balances New England’s desire to claim a top seed in the Eastern Conference with the need to keep Jones fresh ahead of the upcoming MLS Cup Playoffs.
The good news for the Revs is that they – and Jones – will have a full eight days between Thursday’s meeting with the Dynamo and their regular-season finale against Toronto FC on October 25.
Still, how much Jones features at BBVA Compass Stadium won’t be determined until later in the week when the player can sit down with New England’s coaches and assess the situation.
“We’ll see how he comes through the game on Tuesday,” Heaps said. “I’ll have that conversation with him when he lands on Wednesday.”
