Fremantle still hope dual Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe will play again this year despite scans showing a stress fracture in his left foot.
Fyfe was hurt in the Dockers' loss to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday - his eighth game back since recovering from a plantar fasciitis injury in the same foot.
The Fremantle champion's troublesome foot has been placed in a protective boot and the Dockers are uncertain when he will return.
"Unfortunately Nat has sustained a stress fracture. It's the same foot he has been dealing with all year," Fremantle's high performance manager Phil Merriman said on Monday.
"We have now put him in a (protective) boot so he is going into a period of de-load.
"We are going to see how his foot is after this period. We are hopeful that we will see him again this season."
The injury to the 31-year-old comes with the Dockers one win outside the top eight ahead of Sunday's home match against Carlton.
Heath Chapman's return has been postponed. The utility hasn't featured since round three due to hamstring and calf injuries in his left leg.
Chapman had been slated to return in state league ranks last weekend but has now reported hamstring tightness in his right leg.
"Heath completed the main training session last week," Merriman said.
"After the session he reported a little bit of hamstring tightness. We decided to take a no-risk approach given Heath's history so he will be unavailable this week."
