Fire’s Jonathan Bornstein feeling safe inside MLS bubble

Jonathan Bornstein controls the ball during Wednesday’s friendly against Minnesota United. | Courtesy of the Fire

The Fire’s first game of the MLS is Back Tournament was postponed and safety has been a question since the event was first announced.

Fire defender Jonathan Bornstein can only speak for himself and the teammates he’s chatted with, so he didn’t want to generalize how everybody is feeling inside the MLS bubble.

But on Wednesday, the veteran Bornstein was clear about how he’s doing. And he was anything but oblivious to what some observers have said about the setup.

“I feel safe,” Bornstein said. “I know there is concern about if all of the protocols are working, where the players who tested positive… where did they originally get the virus? There’s a lot of unknowns out there, but me personally, I feel like as long as myself and my teammates and the entire Chicago organization continue to do what we’ve been doing and follow the protocols, I think there’s no reason we should be in fear of contracting the virus.

“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing to stay safe.”

The questions about the safety of the MLS is Back Tournament have always been there since the event was announced, and grew more pressing as COVID-19 continued to surge in many areas of the country. FC Dallas was withdrawn from the tournament after 10 players and one technical staff member tested positive, and the Fire’s opening game was postponed due to an outbreak within the ranks of scheduled opponent Nashville SC, who subsequently exited the event Thursday.

Bornstein said the Fire were at first taken aback by the postponement because of their excitement to play on the opening night of the tournament.

“Obviously, you can only control so much and we’ve been doing that as best as we can in terms of training, in terms of staying safe,” Bornstein said. “When you get a game either postponed or taken away from you it’s because there’s outside circumstances that you really just have to kind of roll with.”

Once disappointment over the postponement passed, Bornstein looked at the positives. He recognized how it allowed the Fire to schedule a friendly with Minnesota United, and provided them a little more time to prepare for their first game of the tournament, which is now Tuesday morning against Seattle.

Though the friendly lasted a half before being washed out, it was also a milestone for the Fire. It was their first time seeing an opponent since March 7, and it was the first time on the field against another team amidst the pandemic.

Bornstein said the latter wasn’t on his mind during the scrimmage. He said he knows the Fire have been proactive with all protocols and thinks Minnesota is doing the same.

“Stepping on the field, it didn’t cross my mind even once about the situation going on around us,” Bornstein said. “Obviously, I think teams like Nashville and teams like Dallas, I really feel for them because they want to be here competing. That’s their job, and I really feel for what they’re going through. Sometimes, the situation is out of our hands, but in terms of this (friendly), I can honestly say that it was completely out of my mind.”