The Indiana Fever, missing Caitlin Clark, suffered their worst loss of the season on Thursday, falling to the Phoenix Mercury by 35 points in a 95-60 blowout. And sports commentator Jason Whitlock believes it’s time to fast-track the return of their star sophomore.Clark still has no set timetable for return, and Thursday’s game marked the ninth consecutive contest she’s missed since injuring her right groin on July 15. Following that injury, the Fever lost two in a row, then won five straight, only to drop their next two.With the Fever dropping to 17-14, Whitlock believes they need to bring Caitlin Clark back into the fold.“Fever have done all they can do without Clark. Time to get her ready to play. It was a nice run. It’s turning brutal,” he wrote on X.In the loss, Indiana struggled on offense, shooting just 34.3% as a team, with only three players hitting at least half their shots. Sophie Cunningham led the way with 18 points on five made 3s, while Kelsey Mitchell finished with 12 points on a tough 4-of-17 outing.This season, the Fever are 9-9 without Caitlin Clark, and it hasn’t just been her absence. Sophie Cunningham has also missed games due to injury, and the team had to navigate the fallout of the DeWanna Bonner controversy.Still, Indiana holds the fifth-best record in the league, trailing only the Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Atlanta Dream and the Mercury.They’re also barely ahead of the Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces, who both sit at 16-14 and are just half a game back in the standings.Will the Fever push Caitlin Clark’s return?While bringing Caitlin Clark back and maximizing their roster’s potential is crucial for Indiana’s playoff hopes, coach Stephanie White insists the team is proceeding with caution."It's day-to-day right now, we're putting no timetable on it," White said in an appearance on NBA Today on Monday."(She is) going through the rehab process, and then we want to reintegrate her from a strength and conditioning standpoint and then get her back to basketball activities. So we're taking it one day at a time, really slow rolling it, slow playing it this time.”White also emphasized that the focus is on Clark’s long-term well-being and ensuring she’s fully healthy before returning, avoiding the risk of further injury.On the bright side, Indiana’s four-game road trip is now over, and they’ll return home for three straight matchups against teams outside the playoff race, the Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics, before heading out for a road game against the league-worst Connecticut Sun.