Kansas City, Kan. • Just four hours before Real Salt Lake was set to kick off the game against Sporting Kansas City that would decide its season, the team got some bad news: Corey Baird was unavailable after being placed on concussion protocol.
Baird was slated to appear in RSL’s starting lineup. But during training Saturday, he suffered what coach Mike Petke called “an interesting, soft little blow to the head,” and led to a concussion.
The injury to the reigning MLS Rookie of the Year caused Petke so shift his thinking with his starting 11.