Fremantle have ruled out captain Alex Pearce for Thursday night's clash with Essendon in Perth.

Pearce hasn't played since developing a hot spot in his shin following the club's round-11 win over Port Adelaide on May 24.

The 30-year-old missed wins over Gold Coast and North Melbourne either side of Fremantle's bye, but he still isn't ready to resume.

Fremantle are taking an extra cautious approach given Pearce's history of leg fractures and there are no guarantees the star defender will be ready for next week's home clash with St Kilda either.

"It's going to be a bit too tight to get him up for this week," Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said on Tuesday.

"It hasn't quite progressed the way we wanted it to, and to get him up for this week it probably had to be perfect, and it just hasn't been.

"We have to give him a little bit longer. He's not in drills and he needed to be in drills by today.

"He hasn't quite got there. He's moving around, but hasn't taken that next step yet.

"I can't put a time frame on it, but we're hoping for next week."

Justin Chadwick - AAP