Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson returned to training for the first time Tuesday since he sustained a broken leg last September in a match against Toronto FC.

Timbers coach Caleb Porter said that both Johnson and midfielder Diego Valeri, who is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, have been cleared by the medical staff to participate in practices as non-contact, "neutral" players.

"Both of them were in training today and allowed to be a neutral player inside the grid, so that was a nice milestone," Porter said. "They will be in training all week as neutral players and allowed to be inside of training drills, possession games, small-sided games."

Porter said he is hopeful that both Johnson and Valeri will be cleared to rejoin full training next week, but could not say when the two players would be ready to see game minutes. In the past, Porter has said Valeri should be available to see game minutes by May.

"Whether they'll be on the same track in terms of being released for the matches, we'll see," Porter said. "But right now they are doing the same exact things in training."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg