At last, the NWSL playoffs are here. Over the next few days, ardent fans will witness the most intense clashes as eight teams give their all to secure a place in the prestigious Championship title race. It’s an event not to be missed — not just by fans, but by the players themselves. Yet, for the Washington Spirit, there’s a major concern: Trinity Rodman remains a big doubt for their crucial playoff game.

The Washington Spirit star has had a tough run with injuries. Months after carefully recovering from a painful back injury, Rodman suffered a new setback — an MCL sprain during her team’s Concacaf W Champions Cup clash against Monterrey on October 15. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as the injury coincided with her call-up from Emma Hayes for the USWNT’s October international window — a doubleheader against Portugal followed by a match against New Zealand — marking her first inclusion since her last national team appearance in April.

Unfortunately, the bad luck seems to continue, as Rodman remains doubtful for Saturday’s NWSL quarterfinal between the Washington Spirit and Racing Louisville. She has yet to fully recover from her MCL sprain, according to ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf. The journalist reported that the 23-year-old winger was absent during the first 30 minutes of Friday’s training session — the portion open to the media. Instead, she spent that time in the team’s nearby gym, as confirmed by a Spirit spokesperson.

Rodman later joined her teammates on the field for the final part of practice. While that might suggest she’s been training individually to push for a comeback, it was later confirmed that she is officially listed as “questionable” for the NWSL playoff quarterfinal at Audi Field against the No. 7 seed, Racing Louisville.

This update hardly comes as a surprise, considering how Rodman left the field during that Monterrey match. For those unaware, the winger went down within the opening half-hour and couldn’t put any pressure on her leg. She left the pitch in tears, using crutches and wearing a full knee brace.

Although head coach Adrian Gonzales later downplayed fears of a serious injury, describing it as a sprain, Rodman’s withdrawal from the USWNT camp and her absence in the final two regular-season games made it clear she wasn’t fully fit. Now, she could be missing the Spirit’s first playoff match — after a season where she tallied five goals and two assists in just nine appearances. Still, not all hope is lost, at least according to Gonzales.

Fingers crossed to see Trinity Rodman back in action

On Friday, Gonzales declined to give a concrete update on Rodman, saying only that she’s being evaluated “day by day.” A final decision on her availability will be made after consulting with the medical team. However, he sounded optimistic: “The only thing with Trin is she’s been doing great,” said the Spirit boss.

“Positive that I think she’s checking those boxes and she’s in a good spot. Mentally and physically she’s improving. She’s been doing a great job — very committed with her recovery, doing as much as possible to be in the best spot possible. We are optimistic and she’s doing good.” Gonzales, formerly an assistant to ex-Spirit boss Jonatan Gonzales (who later joined OL Lyon), appears to be keeping morale high.

Remarkably, Rodman isn’t Washington’s only concern. In their final regular-season match — a 1-0 loss to Utah Royals — the Spirit had just three healthy field players available off the bench. Croix Bethune (thigh), Leicy Santos (illness), and Deborah Abiodun (ankle) were all sidelined. That explains why only 18 field players were present in the media-accessible portion of Friday’s training session at the Inova Performance Complex.

Naturally, if Rodman remains unavailable, the rest of the squad will have to step up without several key players. It’s no surprise that Gonzales emphasized “staying compact defensively and winning second balls so that they don’t get caught in transition” — a tactic mirroring Racing Louisville’s playing style.

A win would send the Spirit into the semifinals, where they’ll face either the Portland Thorns or San Diego Wave. Either way, share your predictions — and thoughts on Trinity Rodman’s potential absence — in the comments below.