In the moments after his first minutes of the year, Jacob Peterson didn't feel much like talking.
Peterson, who came on just after the hour mark of Sporting Kansas City's 3-2 loss to Portland on Saturday, was headed to the locker room when someone asked him how it felt to be back.
“Feels great, except for losing,” Peterson said, and kept walking.
It's not that Peterson wasn't glad to be back, after offseason shoulder surgery kept him out for Sporting's first eight matches. It's that he wanted to come back and win.
“I think 'mixed emotions' is the best way to put it,” Peterson told MLSsoccer.com by phone on Monday. “It was great to get back and be part of the whole game-day experience, but ultimately we play this game to win. If you don't get the result, it's not what you're looking for regardless of whether you're out there or not. I'd have rather been up in the stands and won the game than down there and lose it.”
Peterson had hoped to come back for Sporting's opener, but said he understood manager Peter Vermes' decision to get him through a month of full training before putting him in the match-day roster.
“Of course I would have liked to come back earlier, but it was a smart approach that Peter and the staff took,” he said. “They wanted to make sure I had some training, being around the guys a bit more, rather than throwing me back in there.”
He might have been ready a week earlier, but a slight hamstring tweak kept him out of the squad for Sporting's away swing to New York and Los Angeles.
“It's frustrating, but it's a long season and we've got a lot of games,” he said. “There are a lot of minutes for a lot of guys. You need to be deep for the summer months, the grueling part of the season. That's where, a lot of the times, the playoff spots are won and the Supporters Shield is decided.”
And after his half-hour stint on his return, Peterson said he's full-90 ready whenever Vermes needs him.
“I've been testing with our fitness staff, and the numbers look good,” he said. “It's a different type of fitness, but the way that we play, the high press, I've had experience with that last year and I know how to play it and how to choose the moments to go.”
