During a Friday workout on a practice field adjacent to Toyota Field, a thin, floppy-haired midfielder took a pass in the defensive third, made a move around a defender, then threaded a pass to a streaking teammate.

In another moment, the shaggy blond locked down another player defensively. Near the end of Friday’s scrimmage, he scored a goal.

He did well. Still, something seemed out of place.

At first glance, the 5-foot-9, 130-pound Ethan Bryant appears spindly compared to teammates. He looks like a boy among men.

Well, he is.

A freshman at Brandeis last year, Bryant is only 16. He’s the youngest player on San Antonio FC’s official roster by three years.

Bryant’s age and talent are a cause for excitement in the SAFC offices.

“We brought him in,” said Nick Evans, SAFC’s academy director and an assistant coach, ”because we thought he would thrive.”

The SAFC braintrust sees Bryant, currently a reserve midfielder buried deep on the depth charts, as a major find and a future weapon. Evans, head coach Darren Powell, his coaching staff and Bryant ’s teammates believe Bryant could become a top-notch player.

And yet, excitement always comes with caveats.

A new car smell comes with new car payments. A great job requires hard work.

And in the case of Bryant, his on-pitch potential comes with the possibility that his development, in the wrong hands, could be mishandled.

That’s why casual fans don’t know about Bryant. Coaches are keeping the wraps on him. There is an iron-clad plan in place to be overly cautious and bring Bryant along slowly.

First and foremost, the team isn’t in panic mode. Powell sees the team improving after a shaky start. There’s no need to push Bryant onto the pitch.

The unspoken reason for slow-playing Bryant through the system has nothing to do with his talent. Instead, it’s about how things could go wrong if the team isn’t patient.

While team officials won’t say it, there are two words that represent the worst-case scenario for soccer prodigies:

Freddy Adu.

Adu was a 14-year-old soccer phenom, lighting up amateur and semi-pro soccer at an age when most boys are angling for a new bicycle. In 2004, a desperate MLS marketed the Ghana-born Adu as America’s soccer superstar of the future.

Then, for reasons that could fill a book, it didn’t happen. After being on 13 teams in eight countries, he has become a ubiquitous lower-division journeyman, albeit one with talent and a binder full of clippings.

Only 28, Adu is now a backup player with only three game appearances for the expansion Las Vegas Lights.

SAFC, sans any mention of Adu, doesn’t want something similar to happen to Bryant.

Born in East Texas — like Clint Dempsey, America’s most distinguished international player —Bryant’s family moved to San Antonio as a toddler. He started playing YMCA soccer when he was four, still smaller than one of Rafa Castillo’s thighs.

SAFC’s Evans, then coaching club soccer, first saw the lethally gifted Bryant when he was 12. He would ultimately coach Bryant for Classics Elite, then brought him over to the SAFC Academy Elite Training Program when he was 15.

“You never know how a player is going to do in this situation,” Evans said. “He’s competitive. He’s not afraid to fail. If he gets pushed down, he’ll get back. He’ll push them down.”

Being professional hasn’t impacted Bryant. When he was a dominant tweener, he’d yell for his teammates to make the obvious pass. He still does that, Evans said. It would be arrogant if Bryant didn’t have the skill to back it up.

Bryant’s, whose contract with SAFC won’t impact his amateur status, is continuing his education via online high school classes. For the future, he’s eyeing college soccer teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Yes, Bryant can help SAFC win now. But taking the time to let his game ferment helps American soccer on all levels. Professional, amateur, college and international clubs all will benefit if Bryant succeeds because he will have blazed the path to greatness through them. And that ascension will help SAFC, too.

Bryant gets that.

“There’s a path for me and I’m getting my opportunity,” Bryant said. “I put my full trust in the coaching staff because they’ve put their trust in me. They’ll know when I’m ready. I’ll know when I’m ready.”

Bryant hasn’t played in a game yet. There’s no target date set for him to play, but Evans suggests it could happen soon.

“I don’t think we’ll be waiting too long,” Evans said.

Roy Bragg is a San Antonio Express-News sports columnist. Read more of his columns here . | rbragg@express-news.net | @roybragg

Roy Bragg is a San Antonio Express-News sports columnist. Read more of his stories here. | rbragg@express-news.net | @roybragg