Of Jones, Gruda and Gardin

Asjha Jones and Sandrine Gruda's return to the Connecticut is likely coming sooner rather than later.

Jones, still recovering from surgery on her left Achilles’ tendon, traveled with the Sun to Washington in preparation for Sunday's game against the Mystics (4 p.m., no TV), and planned to practice Saturday. Sun coach Mike Thibault didn’t sound confident she could play Sunday, but said, “We’ll see how it goes and see how she feels tomorrow.”

Friday's game vs. New York seems to be a better bet.

Gruda, meanwhile, is slated to arrive in the U.S. late Thursday night and will be activated for Friday’s game against the Liberty. She has been training with the French national team in preparation for this fall's world championship. There was a possibility she wouldn't arrive until Saturday.

“Whether she plays much or not (Friday), I don’t know,” Thibault said, “but we’ll suit her up.”

Kerri Gardin did not travel with the Sun after sustaining what Thibault called a “moderate to severe concussion” in a collision with Minnesota’s Rashanda McCants on Thursday.

A CAT Scan came back negative for fractures, but Thibault said the forward is “probably out a week,” leaving the Sun with eight healthy players for Sunday if Jones remains sidelined. But don’t expect the Sun to push Jones into playing simply because of a thinned bench.

“We’ll just deal with it,” Thibault said.

Its 80-65 loss at Connecticut last Sunday started a three-game losing streak for Washington (3-3) in which it gave up 80 or more points each time. The Mystics were allowing a league-low 67.3 beforehand.