Swans coach Paul Roos said he was pleased with Pyke's form in his two games against Richmond and Geelong but he was concerned a potential match-up with Dean Cox could stifle the Canadian's development.
Pyke has performed admirably against Tigers Adam Pattison and Angus Graham and Cats duo Mark Blake and Shane Mumford, but the four-time All-Australian Eagle is on another level.
"Part of [Pyke's] learning process is to play seniors and then play seconds, so he may miss out this week," Roos said on Wednesday.
"Not through form, but we've got to be careful with him – throwing him in against Dean Cox at this stage is probably just a bit big an ask for him.
"I thought he was good last week, so it certainly wouldn't be a form thing but an educational thing. We need to make sure he doesn't go backwards in his footy education."
Nullifying Cox's influence will be a key task for the Swans on Saturday night and Pyke's likely omission leaves the door open for Jesse White to resume his back-up role to Darren Jolly.
While Cox is a certain starter on Saturday night, his midfield teammate Daniel Kerr is less likely to take the field against the Swans after straining a hamstring against Melbourne last weekend.
And versatile Eagles tall Adam Hunter has already been ruled out of what would have been his 150th match for the club.
Roos said the Swans were planning for Kerr to play but his absence wouldn't change their intensity.
"If he doesn't, the challenge for our guys is to make sure they respect all the other guys that are playing because they've got some good young kids," he said.
With several players still working their way back from injury, Roos conceded that the Swans would be forced to pick some players who weren't "in super form".
However, he expected his men to be confident heading into the clash after experiencing what it takes to face the league's benchmark in Geelong.
"I think it was good in a way, playing Geelong, because you just see where you are as a club and as a team," Roos said.
"We're considerably off the pace in terms of the top sides, so hopefully the guys have taken something out of that and realised in order to get back up to the top we need to play a lot better."
