Just when everyone thought Trinity Rodman was back to her best, it turned out to be a false dawn. Trouble followed the star forward’s return after the Washington Spirit had announced that she would be stepping away from soccer activities to address the biggest issue holding her back—a lingering back injury. During such a tough time, one would expect her to receive support from her ardent fans. However, some were more focused on taunting her with hate. That only pushed Rodman to “unapologetically” fire back with a subtle message aimed at all the naysayers.

For context, her agent, Mike Senkowski, told the Washington Post that she would be flying to London to meet the Spirit’s doctor. Simultaneously, the Spirit shared a statement on the matter, saying, “Trinity is taking time away from team activities to manage her back. We look forward to her returning when she’s healthy,” as compiled by The Athletic.

This, however, didn’t sit quite well with a few fans, as they made some interesting comments on X when the news was shared about Trinity Rodman’s renewed break and unfortunate absence. One of them read, “She gonna meet with the Washington Spirit team doctor in London lol?????Just say she is in negotiation with Chelsea get this over with already 😂”

Meanwhile, another one took a subtle dig at Rodman for choosing to attend the BMW Open in Munich, Germany on Saturday, where her current boyfriend, Ben Shelton, defeated Francisco Cerundolo in a three-set battle. However, Shelton went on to lose to top-seeded Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final: “She could still be with her team and not in MUNICH FOR HER BF TENNIS TOURNAMENT.”

The comments were plenty, but these two are enough to give a clear gist of what the Newport Beach native is facing, on top of dealing with the adversity of her injury. This eventually led Rodman to take to her Instagram stories, where she shared a strong quote that perfectly reflected her current situation. “Shut out the noise and listen to yourself. Decide what you need today, then take it unapologetically,” read the passage.

Notably, Rodman has been battling back issues ever since making her NWSL debut. An injury that first surfaced in 2021 made an unfortunate return shortly after her stunning display at the 2024 Paris Olympics, forcing her to leave the pitch in a wheelchair during an NWSL game. Since then, the 22-year-old has made only irregular appearances, with her USWNT return coming straight after missing more than a couple of camps.

She made her return to the recent Brazil doubleheader. While in the latter clash, the US lost 1-2, Rodman was sent home early, the opening game that the American ladies won 2-0 saw Trinity score a goal inside six minutes to mark her return to the national team. The talented winger celebrated her long-awaited goal hysterically by mocking her recent back injury—clutching her back, limping, and pulling a pained expression.

No wonder Emma Hayes warned her about it. Fast forward to today. Who would have thought her to make this hard decision of stepping away from action for the time being? Speaking of which, how long can we expect her to remain sidelined?

How long will Trinity Rodman be out this time?

This is a question which we believe doesn’t have an answer. Interestingly, head coach Jonatan Giraldez was asked about the possibility of him having an answer to this question. “Being honest right now, it’s too soon to speak about that. Today I was focused on the game,” he said after the Spirit secured a narrow win over arch-rivals Orlando Pride.

“In the next days, I will have more information, and I will be able to share with all of you,” further added the Spanish tactician. Well, except for the recent clash against Pride, Rodman had been given limited minutes by Giráldez — either starting but getting subbed off or coming off the bench — she has yet to complete a full match. But from the looks of it, she still needs some time before that can happen.

Then again, given how her sole motive for taking time-off from soccer activities is to find a definite solution regarding her back injury, it’s unfortunate to say that she may end up taking quite an awful amount of time. But that’s definitely not the case; who knows, it might be just a short trip to London to figure out the core problem behind her nagging injury.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.