The first month of Jordan Morris' professional career has been full of tough lessons. There has been Morris' continued adaptation to a new position, right wing in the Seattle Sounders' 4-3-3. There have been the physical demands of training in a professional environment for the first time. But one challenge has risen above all of the others, and that is dealing with the weight of immense expectations.
Ahead of Sunday's match against the Houston Dynamo (4 p.m. ET, ESPN/WatchESPN), the mental load has been evident in Morris' play. In four games, three of them starts, Morris has managed only three shots. One of them came just minutes into the season opener against Sporting Kansas City, when he was put through on goal but skied his shot well over the bar. He was on the CenturyLink Field turf for a few seconds, his disappointment evident. The rest of Morris' minutes have seen him make little, if any impact.
To be fair, his first month isn't all that unusual for a rookie, and the entire Sounders team has struggled offensively in the wake of Obafemi Martins' transfer to Chinese side Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. Pick just about any attacking statistic and it makes for grim reading. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Seattle is dead last in expected goals per game (0.86) and shots on goal per game (3.25). The Sounders are tied for last in chances created per game (7.00). Goals per game ranks slightly better, but barely, with Seattle's mark of 0.75 tied for 17th in MLS.
Morris is the first to admit that his game has been dragged down by negative thoughts as well as the hopes placed on him. "I think sometimes I can let the outside expectations get to me a little bit, and I put a lot of pressure on myself," he said by telephone in an exclusive interview.
He later added, "I think as a young guy, sometimes you go out there a little timid, you [want to] get the ball off your foot quicker than maybe you should and not make a mistake. Even though I'm a rookie and a little bit younger, just having that confidence to take people on, go at people and take some shots... that's the biggest thing I need to improve on."
Seattle manager Sigi Schmid, as wise a coach as there is in MLS, noticed Morris' play and body language, and with his prized rookie coming back from international duty with the U.S. U-23 team, he opted to sit Morris for the first 56 minutes of last weekend's 1-0 win over the Montreal Impact. He explained his reasoning to the player beforehand and Morris sounded grateful for the temporary reprieve.
"Sigi has been great with everything," he said. "It was a very positive conversation. It definitely helps to relieve the pressure a little bit. He said just go out and play and have fun. It's hard to feel that all the time, but when you can go out in training and games and think, 'This is what I love to do, and I have fun doing it,' I think that relieved some of the pressure. It was good to have the reinforcement from the coach."
To hear Schmid tell it, there is a clear source for Morris' difficulties.
"I think the biggest challenge has been the pressure that the media has put on [Morris]," Schmid said. "He wants to do well, he wants to please, and I think sometimes he's trying too hard to please. I think that's the biggest challenge as far as I'm concerned. The other stuff we can work with and learn. Unless you're confident and free it's difficult to be successful."
Without question, Morris has drawn considerable media attention though a fair chunk of the coverage has been accurate in its description of what he is right now, namely an exciting prospect who still needs to prove himself. But when it comes to Morris, the Sounders and MLS have been just as culpable, if not more so, in feeding the hype machine. It was MLS that touted Morris as "the next great American star" before he had played a single professional minute. The Sounders went one further, unwisely tweeting out a picture of Morris standing on the observation deck of the Space Needle along with a similar photo of Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
When the Messi photo was mentioned to Schmid, he backtracked somewhat.
"I'm not saying it's the media's responsibility that Morris isn't playing well right now because he's just trying to find his way as he enters a professional environment," he said. "It's all things together, it's a combination of things."
Regardless, the bottles filled with expectation and pressure have been opened and dumped all over Morris. It is now up to him to filter it or ignore it entirely and not let it impact his game. He noted that the fact he's living at home with his family allows him to unplug from the daily regimen of being a professional. Playing in front of family and friends can create a different kind of pressure, but Morris insists he hasn't felt any additional weight in that regard.
When it was brought up that during his freshman year at Stanford, he failed to score in his first six collegiate games and then went on to enjoy a standout career, Morris said the same thought had occurred to him. Of course, the level is now different, but it's still an experience that he can draw from.
"I think honestly once one goal comes, the pressure is released a little bit," he said. "It can build up, build up, build up and then once you get your first one, you can kind of release."
But there will no doubt be times where the pressure will return, and in those moments, he'll need to find a way to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. As Morris talked more about his first month as a pro, it's clear that the process is well under way.
"I think you just have to push that stuff aside," he said. "I think if you read too much into that stuff, whether it's positive -- and obviously the picture next to Messi, that was ridiculous -- or negative, you just can't read into it either way. It's just a distraction and it can lead to more pressure. And psychologically I don't think it's great. I just stopped reading all that stuff, pushed that all out of my mind a little bit and focus on playing, focus on the internal stuff, my team and what I can do to help the team win in any way that I can."
For Morris, that means expanding his game. He describes himself as "definitely a runner who likes to get behind defenses" and it can be argued he has relied a bit too heavily on that attribute. Now that he's on the wing, the space is compressed a bit more. The runs needed to free himself are now more outside in than inside out, requiring more combination play to evade opposition defenders. Then there's finding the right balance between his attacking and defensive responsibilities.
"Sometimes Morris is too honest playing out there. He's too willing to come back and help out," Schmid said. "Those are the things we've been talking about. 'Here's where you become that second forward. Here's where we need you to help a little bit here. He's where we need you inside.' "
It's still unclear where Morris will end up playing going forward. His substitute appearance against the Impact saw him stationed more centrally and while Morris indicated there had been discussions of him moving there permanently, both coach and player said it probably would be situational. Yet Morris' difficult first month has done little to change Schmid's overall impression.
"The talents and the skills that Morris has haven't changed," Schmid said. "He's still got pace. He still knows how to ride a tackle. He's still a good finisher. He still has good instincts around the goal. He's still a guy who is aggressive in the right moments around the goal. Those things are still there. Those things haven't gone away. Those things are professional caliber and MLS caliber abilities."
All that's left for Morris is to build up his confidence and try to learn from those tough lessons.