Push one's way in

Question

During a game, one player got injured. After he received his first aid, one of the medical staff showed a concern that he might hurt himself more if he continued playing this game.

In the subtitle (this is a non-English TV program), seeing that the player wanted to go back into the game, the medical staff asked,

"Don't you have to push your way in?"

The context is clear. The meaning is also clear: the medical staff doesn't want the player to force himself back into the game to avoid any more serious injury.

However, that "in" seems a little odd to me. I've heard push oneself, or push one's way through, but never push one's way in. It wouldn't sound as odd if the subtitle was instead "You don't have to push yourself," or "You don't have to force yourself back in/into the game."

Is this "push one's way in" a good usage?

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To provide more context, it's a basketball game. The player is a forward (possibly a small forward, I'm not sure, but judging from his body he should be the small forward rather than the power forward). Here are a few relevant scenes during the game,

Out of screen #1: Aren't you going to play?
Player: I should.
Out of screen #2: Don't you have to push your way in?
[the scene was cut back to the game]

NOTE: I'm not sure if those "out of screen" voices were the same person. It might be the same person, but again it might not. (The stadium was very noisy.) I simply guess from the context that the "out of screen" #2 was the medic.

After a while, the camera was back on the player receiving his first aid from a medic,

Player: It was on my way down from a jump.
Medic: [make an acknowledge sound]
Player: I was surprised.
Player: (after maybe five seconds) How is the game going?
Player: (after a few more seconds) What's the score right now?
[the scene was cut back to the game]

After another while, seeing the other team is taking the lead,

Player: (mumbling to himself) I should play.
[the scene was changed to show him walking back to join his friends at the bench, and soon he was on the court]

PS. I hope that his injury is not anything serious, and he will get well soon.

Answer 1

[verb] one's way {{in | into | to } [target] | through [hindrance/obstacle]}

is a general pattern where you can substitute different verbs, like "force", "claw", "push", "work", "beg", or really anything that is clearly understandable in the context.

It means, roughly, "Attaining [target] by [verb]-ing, thereby creating a path or entry into [target] (or through [obstacle]) for oneself, where a path or entry wasn't available."

The worm cheerfully munched its way right to the center of the apple. [There was no path to the center of the apple; the worm created one for itself by eating.]

She slept her way into the movie industry. [She had sex with directors or producers in exchange for getting roles in films, thereby creating a way into the industry that was not otherwise available.]

The usage "don't you have to push your way in" is clear: "don't you have to get into the game by means of creating an entry for yourself via pushing?"

"in" is correct, because that's the preposition that is used for indicating participation in a game: being "in the game".

"Push" is also appropriate, because it has figurative meanings, one of which is forcing or asserting oneself. (E.g. an overly assertive person is called "pushy" and "pushes around" other people).