Revs Training Report

By Brian O'Connell
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Updated: April 8, 2015

Photo credit: Brian O’Connell

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution trained out on one of the grass fields behind Gillette Stadium on Wednesday as they continued their preparations for Saturday’s contest against the Columbus Crew.

Coach Jay Heaps had nearly a full squad at his disposal for the training session. The lone absence was midfielder Daigo Kobayashi, who missed last weekend’s match due to a hamstring strain.

Brazilian center back Renato Silva also trained with the squad on Wednesday. The former Vasco da Gama defender is currently on trial with the club, who lost center backs A.J. Soares and Stephen McCarthy during the offseason.

Here are a few notes from Wednesday’s training:

*After training on the stadium field and inside the Dana Farber Fieldhouse since the start of the season, the squad finally found the opportunity to train on the grass field this week. The squad primarily trains on grass during the season.

*Jermaine Jones appeared unhindered during the passing and possession drills. Heaps told the media that the midfielder is “day-to-day,” and that Jones has “gotten a little bit better since he’s joined us in the training.” Jones was not available to the media prior to training.

*Jose Goncalves was seen working with strength and conditioning coach Nick Downing on agility drills. Goncalves came out in the 67th minute of last weekend’s win in Colorado due to a calf knock.

*Heaps and Charlie Davies both spoke to the media prior to the start of training.

*The Revolution coach admitted that the gameplan going into last week’s contest in Colorado was to “take the air out of the game” given the elevation, and that he didn’t want to see his squad “over attack.”

*Davies called the Crew one of the Revolution’s biggest rivals, and offered the following when asked about the match: “They have some dangerous weapons, so we just have to stay focused. We obviously know how to exploit them, and we just have to continue to do that.”