The Portland Timbers were finishing up a light training session on the morning before their playoff game against the Houston Dynamo last November when Roy Miller suffered the injury.

After going up for a header on a set piece, Miller heard something crack in the back of his ankle. He immediately collapsed to the ground. At first, the center back thought he had been stepped on by a teammate, but within two hours he had learned that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Miller was 32 at the time and knew that the injury could be career-ending for someone his age. A year prior, Timbers defender Nat Borchers had retired at 35 after suffering the same injury.

But over the months that followed, Miller never let himself believe that his career was over. It felt too soon for him to hang up his cleats.

"It's not an easy injury to come back from, especially at my age," Miller said. "But I was always thinking that I wanted to return to play again. Maybe that's one of the keys that helped me."

After Miller suffered the injury last November, it was assumed that he would miss the entirety of the 2018 season, if he came back at all.

But less than eight months after suffering the devastating injury, Miller saw his first game minutes, starting for the Timbers' USL team, T2, in a match against Reno 1868 FC on June 30. Since then, Miller has made six appearances for the USL side and now appears poised to make his return to the Timbers first team before the end of the 2018 season.

"Roy's incredible," Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. "Who would have predicted that he would already be playing full matches at this stage?"

Behind the scenes, Miller spent months dedicating himself to his rehabilitation to get to this point.

After undergoing surgery, Miller returned to Costa Rica and spent nearly a month wearing a cast and an additional two months in a boot. But at the end of January, he joined the Timbers for preseason training camp in Arizona and began to make real progress toward returning to full health.

"He's a very important part of the club and the team and that's why it was crucial for us to have him there (in Arizona) to make sure that he felt closer and that he influenced the club in a positive way," Savarese said. "He's an incredible person."

Miller tried to take his rehabilitation day-by-day and appreciate each milestone along the way: the first time he worked out in a pool, the first time he rode a stationary bike, the first time he jogged, and later ran.

The biggest milestone came during the season when he was finally cleared to participate in his first partial training with the team. It's a day that Miller will never forget. He still remembers Sebastian Blanco and Zarek Valentin clapping for him and making jokes as he walked out onto the field. It felt so good to be back with the team.

"I had good moments and bad moments along the way," Miller said. "But I was always looking forward, trying to do my best to return to play. That first day at training, I'll never forget. It was a long process for me, but the way my teammates supported me was really, really fantastic."

The Timbers originally signed Miller as a depth piece in 2017, but the veteran defender went on to become arguably the most important player on Portland's backline last season. He made 26 starts for the club before going down with the injury.

Miller doesn't know what role he will play for the Timbers this season or when he will earn his first minutes with the club. Right now, he is just focused on improving his strength and fitness each day in training.

And he is also taking time to appreciate every moment he has on the field.

"I always say thanks to God for the way I was able to come back, for the way I'm able to move, the way I can run," Miller said. "Now, I always try to enjoy every moment, even if it's in training, even if it's in the locker room with the guys, because in the future, you never know what can happen."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg