Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson had surgery to remove two screws from his right tibia, and will be out indefinitely as he recovers.
The Canada international broke his leg more than a year ago, and is hoping the procedure is the last step towards full recovery.
"I know that the level I got back to wasn't good enough to win playoff games, and that was the ultimate deciding factor to me, that if I could go through the procedure and maybe put in some more hard work and get back fitter, stronger, faster, better version of what I came back the first time," Johnson said on Thursday. "I think that's the best-case scenario for everybody."
Johnson, who is targeting a comeback in some form for the Timbers' playoff push, returned to action from the leg injury in May, but has been in and out of the lineup due to its lingering effects.
"I just didn't have full range of motion and explosiveness because the screws were restricting my motion," Johnson said. "I was 10 percent [off] the best version of myself, and 10 percent at this level is a lot," he said of the decision to have the screws removed.
Johnson hopes to be able to train soon.
"At the very least just pushing guys ahead of me to be better," the Timbers captain said. "I want to try to get back to training and see where I'm at, but obviously at this point of the year you're not going to do a lot of tinkering with your team, and the guys played well in Columbus.
"Time will tell. There are no guarantees with this injury as I've found out throughout this past year. I'm positive, and a lot of hard work will go into it. And we'll see what happens."