Which direction, forward or reverse, are they trying to move? If I
drove me car off the pavement into loose sand, I would not continue in
the same direction.

"Since the rover began making its way out of the sand trap last month,
it has driven enough to have moved 177.2 meters (581 feet) if there
were no slippage, and has made actual forward progress of 93
centimeters (3 feet)."