BRADENTON, Fla. – The New England Revolution have dealt with a few injuries early this preseason, and the staff have taken a cautious approach with recoveries. After taking the time to allow several players to fully heal, rookie Mark Segbers was one of the first to bounce back and saw his first minutes in Tuesday’s preseason draw with FC Cincinnati.
“The coaching staff was very clear about making sure I take my time and making sure it becomes fully healed so I don’t reinjure it again,” said Segbers. “So I think just the main thing was having faith and trusting them.”
Segbers was one of the Revs’ two first-round picks (9th overall) in this year’s SuperDraft, which means the preseason period is crucial for him. With Segbers back and healthy, he is now getting a chance to prove his talent and fight for a chance to earn a spot on the 2018 roster.
Furthermore, playing 16 minutes in the second half of Tuesday’s game provided Segbers with an opportunity to get a taste for what the upcoming season could present.
“It was definitely, definitely exciting,” said Segbers. “Coming in and getting injured off the bat, you never hope to get injured. So I was definitely itching to get some minutes, and I’m glad I got some at the end there today.”
With a new coaching staff that’s constantly looking for players who are putting in the work to earn playing time, Segbers’ efforts, although injured, did not go unnoticed.
“He’d never been injured before, so he didn’t know what it felt like, but he’s been working really hard,” head coach Brad Friedel said of Segbers, “It was nice that he got 15 or so minutes, and he came through it unscathed, so we can hopefully look forward to him getting some more minutes in the upcoming matches.”
With the Florida leg of preseason ending on Wednesday, Segbers looks to continue to make his case and earn a spot on New England’s roster as the team heads to Tucson, Ariz., for additional preseason training and games next week.
“I’ve got a lot of acceleration in me so [I’m going to] just try to unbalance teams with my speed and just make sure I’m working my butt off every minute out there,” said Segbers.
