SANDY, Utah – If, and apparently when, Chris Schuler takes the field for Real Salt Lake on Saturday, he'll be looking a little bit like Hannibal Lecter. And it won't be a late Halloween costume.
Following a frightening injury in a game on Oct. 5, the big RSL defender has been outfitted with a protective mask somewhat reminiscent of the famous cannibal from The Silence of the Lambs.
Despite suffering a broken nose and three separate fractures to the bone around his eye in a collision with teammate Nat Borchers less than four weeks ago, Schuler is expected to be available when the LA Galaxy come to town on Saturday for the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinals series (8 pm ET, NBCSN, NBCSports.com).
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Add the mask, and, “he's certainly even more intimidating,” said fellow RSL defender Tony Beltran. “He's already 6[-foot]-5 … He'll be a beast.”
Schuler declined to speak to members of the media, but RSL coach Jeff Cassar sounded confident that Schuler will be ready to play this weekend.
“He's doing very well,” Cassar told reporters. “He's been pushing it hard in training sessions – been full out. He's been [training] to get his fitness level back up to 90 minutes. I think he's going to make himself available for selection.”
Cassar didn't say it, but if Schuler is available, it's difficult to imagine him not getting in the game.
“He obviously gives us a different dynamic in the back just in terms of his size and his strength and his communication,” Borchers said. “So we're looking forward to getting him back in there.”
Schuler has been through three different versions of the protective mask to date, each time giving feedback for the next version, according to Cassar. Real Salt Lake have informed MLS that Schuler will be wearing the mask this weekend. RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey said that while the final say is up to the referee on Saturday night, “There should be no problem” with Schuler's headgear.
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“The person that they went through [to make it] has been doing this for a long time, whether it's in the NBA, whether it was in baseball,” Cassar said. “So I think he knows what he's doing – what's legal and stuff. It looks good. It doesn't look bulky or anything like that. So hopefully, the ref will be fine with it, which he should be.”
In the weeks immediately after the injury, Schuler avoided anything in training that might cause further injury to his face. But he has been heading the ball again for the past week, and in training on Tuesday participated in an extended drill doing nothing but heading the ball as it was served in to him.
"We're just trying to get him used to heading the ball and not being timid in any way," Cassar said. "Chris has been fantastic with that. So far, so good. At the end of the day, when you're wearing a mask, it's got to be some type of hindrance. But he's a really strong personality, so I think he's going to deal with it fine.”
