Caitlin Clark's Left Quad Strain Will Keep Her out for at Least Two Weeks

The Indiana Fever and the WNBA generally were dealt a major blow following the news that Caitlin Clark will be out for at least two weeks. Caitlin, who never missed a game through all four seasons at Iowa, is dealing with a left quad strain that also limited her during the WNBA preseason.

Following the news that she was injured, many wanted to learn the latest on the injury, and what the expectations are around her recovery. Here's what we know.

For now, the two-week timeline would have Caitlin missing four games: at the Washington Mystics, at home against the Connecticut Sun and Mystics, and on the road at the Chicago Sky. We don't know much about whether Caitlin is expected to miss more time beyond those two weeks, but initial reports suggested that she would miss "at least" that much time, meaning that she's likely to be reevaluated in two weeks.

She'll be reexamined on June 9, but as we said, that doesn't mean that she's guaranteed to return that day. It's possible that the injury will linger and lead her to miss even more time.

Generally speaking, recovery for a quad strain can range from a few weeks to a few months, so without knowing more about the severity of Caitlin's injury, it's hard to estimate a return with much accuracy.

What we do know, though, is that Caitlin is still young, which should help her to heal more rapidly, and that she's going to be eager to return to the court as soon as possible. That doesn't necessarily mean that she should rush back, but given what we know about her competitive spirit, it seems much more likely that she'll be pushing the doctors to clear her as aggressively as she can without reinjuring herself.

Although they made some major acquisitions in the off-season that suggest they're trying to compete now, the Fever have started just 2-2 after losing to the Atlanta Dream and the defending champion New York Liberty. Caitlin is currently leading the team in points and assists, so the rest of her team is certainly going to have to pick up some of her slack during her absence.

Indiana is likely to be favored in a number of their upcoming games even without Caitlin on the team, but they will have to find new ways to distribute the ball while she's out of the rotation.

If there's a silver lining to Caitlin's injury, it's that the Fever are still a time trying to figure out who will step up around her, and this will give the coaching staff an opportunity to do exactly that.

After making a run to the playoffs last season, expectations for the Fever are much higher heading into this year. Now, they have an even smaller margin of error while one of their stars is out with an injury.