Rams’ Trent McDuffie reveals groin injury details, delivers encouraging update on return

Trent McDuffie spent Sunday watching from the sidelines as the Rams finally began looking like the Super Bowl contenders everyone expected them to be.

Now the All-Pro cornerback wants back in on the action.

After missing the last two games with a groin injury suffered in practice two weeks ago, McDuffie returned to the field on Wednesday and told the California Post in an exclusive interview that he’s feeling better and ready to suit up against the Chargers if the medical staff gives him the green light.

“If I’m cleared, man, I’m ready to go,” McDuffie said with a smile.

McDuffie revealed that he felt tightness and a slight tug in his groin, an injury that required patience rather than pushing through the pain and risking a more significant setback.

“For me, it was just tightness. I felt a little tug, a little groin strain,” McDuffie said. “It was one of those injuries you’ve got to be careful with. You push it too much, you can kind of make it worse.”

McDuffie attempted to return last Friday ahead of the Rams’ Week 7 showdown with the Raiders, but the team’s medical staff decided another week of recovery was the smarter approach.

“I told them last week, ‘I’m going to give you every single second I’ve got to try to make the game,’” McDuffie said. “They just thought taking an extra week would be smart, so that’s what we did.”

The decision appears to have paid off.

McDuffie was a limited participant Wednesday, but his excitement about returning to the practice field was impossible to hide.

“Man, biggest smile on my face while I was out there, back on the football field,” he said.

Before the season began, McDuffie told The Post that the biggest threat to the Rams’ championship aspirations wasn’t the Seahawks, 49ers or anybody else on their schedule. 

It was themselves. 

Through the first six weeks of the season, McDuffie’s proclamation proved to be right, as the Rams scuffled to a 2-4 start, finding new creative ways to beat themselves week after week. 

“We won’t win a game unless we figure out how to not beat ourselves,” coach Sean McVay said after the team’s embarrassing 18-16 loss to the Cardinals at home in Week 6. 

Untimely penalties, undisciplined football, questionable coaching decisions and self-inflicted mistakes transformed a Super Bowl favorite into a last-place team in the NFC West.

But Sunday’s 35-21 victory over the Raiders offered a glimpse of what the Rams could become if they stopped stepping on their own feet.

“The energy was right. The focus was right, and it just seemed like guys had that swagger back,” McDuffie said. “Hopefully I can come back and just add to what they’re already starting to do.”

McDuffie credited a renewed emphasis on discipline, attention to detail and urgency for the team’s improved performance.

“I think last week was just a good show of what we can be,” he said. “Obviously, there are mistakes we’ve got to clean up, but things are moving in the right direction.”

Now comes the harder part: proving Sunday’s performance wasn’t a one-week mirage and winning back-to-back games for the first time this season. 

With quarterback Matthew Stafford urging his teammates to go on a run, McDuffie believes the Rams must recapture the confidence and joy that made them dangerous in the first place.

“Guys had that confidence, guys had that swagger and guys were just going out there enjoying being out there with each other,” McDuffie said.

“Take the pressure off. Let the score be the score. Let the record be whatever it is. Let’s just go out there and enjoy these last games that we have with each other.”

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