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Caitlin Clark has still not been cleared to participate in contact drills during practice or shootaround, Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White told reporters Tuesday ahead of the team's game against the Phoenix Mercury. 

Clark, who has not played since July 15 due to a right groin injury, will miss her 19th consecutive game. The 2024 Rookie of the Year has been limited to 13 appearances this season due to a series of soft tissue injuries to her left quad, left groin and right groin. She also suffered a bone bruise on her left ankle on Aug. 7 while rehabbing her current groin injury. 

Caitlin Clark injury update: Fever star remains out Tuesday for showdown with Mercury, DeWanna Bonner
Jack Maloney
Caitlin Clark injury update: Fever star remains out Tuesday for showdown with Mercury, DeWanna Bonner

White said that Clark has "been doing mostly shooting and individual stuff." Clark also did some fullcourt non-contact work with the Fever's reserves in Phoenix on Tuesday. 

Asked if the Fever still anticipate Clark returning this season, White said "that's the hope," echoing the refrain she's used for the last few weeks. 

"She's working as hard as she can to make sure that she is coming back or is capable of coming back," White continued. "I think that the long-term viewpoint of her health and wellness is the most important thing."

Earlier this month, White said that she wants to see Clark participate in "multiple practices" before she returns to game action. She clarified that because the team will have limited practice time down the stretch, that doesn't necessarily mean team practices, but could include 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 work. 

"I want to see her in practice, live in practice," White said. "I want to see her to continue to work to not just build endurance, but to be able to handle contact 94 feet as it's going to be in game, and to be able to do that and sustain from an endurance standpoint, and that's going to take multiple practices to make sure that there's no regression. As most of us know, when we get fatigued, we look different. [We need to see] how she plays through fatigue."

When will Caitlin Clark return from injury? Fever coach explains what needs to happen for star to suit up
Jack Maloney
When will Caitlin Clark return from injury? Fever coach explains what needs to happen for star to suit up

After Tuesday's matchup with the Mercury, the Fever will only have three games remaining in the regular season: Friday vs. the Chicago Sky, Sunday at the Washington Mystics and Sept. 9 vs. the league-leading Minnesota Lynx. The regular season will conclude for all teams on Sept. 11 and the playoffs will begin on Sept. 14. 

The Fever sit in seventh place entering Tuesday, with a percentage points lead on the eighth-place Seattle Storm and a 1½-game edge on the ninth-place Los Angeles Sparks. They own the tiebreaker with the Storm but have lost the tiebreaker with the Sparks. While the Fever remain in pretty good shape to make the postseason, they still have plenty of work to do to clinch their spot. 

Time is running out for Clark to make a return before the end of the regular season, but if the Fever are able to get into the playoffs without her, she would have two more weeks from Tuesday to be ready for Game 1 of their first-round series. The big question in that scenario is whether the team would throw her into a playoff atmosphere for her first game back.