INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana fever star Caitlin Clark will be reevaluated this weekend as she hopes to return from the left quadruple strain that has put her far ahead in the last three games. While she may have been back as early as Tuesday, the No. 1 pick in 2024 says she won't rush back.

"I'm going to miss this weekend's game (Saturday against Chicago Sky), but after that, I'm looking at how I feel every day, just turn to the medical staff and what they think," Clark said. "I feel like I've made a lot of progress and feel good, and I'm not rushing to come back. It's not worth it. But after this weekend, I'm going to reevaluate and we'll have a better idea of ​​when I'll be back."

After the sky, Fever plays two teams in the league that plays two top teams: Tuesday’s Atlanta Dream, and then the defending champion New York Liberal Party on June 14.

"We'll see it," Clark said on Tuesday's identity. "We try not to put the exact dates there because it's a daily thing to see how I feel. It's a type of hurt, for example, you don't know, when I wake up, I feel different from the day before. We'll see. It might be a possibility, but I can't offer that game either."

Clark spoke with reporters for the first time Thursday since being excluded from the Quad Strain on Memorial Day. This is the first time she has missed the competition in college and career.

She was injured in a free loss from a fever on May 24 and believed adrenaline covered the issue in the game. Afterwards, she felt pain and got an MRI, which revealed the stress. Clark also handled a four-point tightness in her left leg during pre-season training camp, but had a fever called it a new, independent injury.

"I think it's different," Clark said of going out. "Only a good perspective is the best way to get close to it. Yes, you might be frustrated, but nothing. But the medical team is doing my rehabilitation work every day, staying on routines, scoring goals, making shots. But, I think it's just focusing on being a really good teammate."

Clark said that being unable to practice is usually the most difficult part of injury. Clark did not participate in the practice that was open to the media on Thursday, which was the scope of the team's shooting exercises.

"I love practicing, I like to be better, so I think that's the time for me to really find patience," Clark said. "I've never been a patient person in my life, so it's definitely doing some testing on me, but I think it's really good for me...I can't change it, but I think my patience has certainly grown a lot."

Coach Stephanie White also said she hopes Clark uses her injuries as an opportunity to learn from the sidelines. Clark sat next to the staff on the bench so that as the game unfolded, she could hear their views and said she prioritized a consistent voice to her teammates, as well as a “connector” between the coach and the player.

“It taught me a lot,” Clark said of the deputy. “I’ve never actually watched this position from the bench for a long time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Indiana (3-5) beat 1-2 in Clark's absence, although the fever also involved Sophie Cunningham's (ankle) injury and had to bring Aari McDonald on a tough contract after suffering 10 available players.

"I think they're really resilient," Clark said of the team, who won a three-game losing streak in a defeat against Washington Mystics on Tuesday. "When your point guard controls a lot of games, it's hard to get into a position where maybe they don't have it yet. I don't think my grace is perfect. Our game is a little different. If the ball in my hand might play with me, I might have played well. I thought we thought we had a great game in the last game. I thought outside of us was playing a little bit better.

"But it's not just offense. I think we could have played better on defense. So, I think there are only those small areas we can clear, whether I'm there or not, these are things we can do better, attack better, and Stephen really challenged them."