[Grammar] Trudging off

[jigneshbharati]

"IST: Oh dear! The irritating drizzle has picked up and the umpires have called for covers. The players are trudging off the field. We'll be back shortly once we get an update."

What is the grammatical function of "off" in the sentence? Is it a preposition or part of a phrasal verb?

 

[Tdol]

We could use trudge off as a phrasal verb, but here it is just a preposition:

We trudged off in the rain.

Here, it has a phrasal verb sense, and off doesn't not link the verb to the place left.

 

[Tdol]

Trudged off suggests that they started their journey, or one stage of it, to me, which is a change of meaning IMO.

 

[Tdol]

Or moving on from a place.

 

[Tdol]

I do take a broad view of what a phrasal verb is. I also see your point.