Washington Spirit and United States forward Trinity Rodman told reporters on Tuesday that she has learned how to better manage herself after missing the past three months due to an ongoing back injury — but she won’t entirely change her game.
“I’m still gonna be Trin,” Rodman said while speaking to reporters for the first time since stepping away from team activities in mid-April. “But, I think the way that I would throw my body around [before], maybe not. Maybe just being smarter about certain tackles, certain runs, certain 50-50s.
“I’m still gonna be intense, and I’m still gonna give it 100% all the time, but I think there’s parts of my game where I need to save energy or adjust to certain tackles, and I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job with that so far coming back in training.”
Rodman last played a competitive match on April 12, when she left the Spirit’s 2-0 win over Racing Louisville FC at halftime. That match came just over a week after her return to the USWNT after missing months of international duty due to her back injury.
She departed the Spirit’s team environment in April to manage her back injury individually with doctors and trainers and returned to Spirit training earlier this month ahead of the NWSL‘s resumption of the regular season this week.
Washington hosts the Portland Thorns FC on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+).
Earlier this year, Rodman said she didn’t think her back would ever be 100% again, but the 23-year-old told reporters on Tuesday that her back pain subsided a couple months ago.
Health is not Rodman’s only area of uncertainty. The 2024 Olympic gold medalist is out of contract at the end of this NWSL season and told ESPN earlier this year that a move to Europe is a matter of when, not if.
On Tuesday, she spoke in passing about the situation, but said she is focused on her return to play: “I’m trying not to stress about it or put too much pressure on it, because at the end of the day, I’m worried about health first, and then everything else can come next.”
