The NFL informed the players’ union of revised return-from-injured reserve rules earlier this week.
Teams may bring back players on injured reserve up to eight times during the regular season, according to a memo posted by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. That’s the same number as last year but now there’s a tweak: two more designations will be added during the playoffs.
And if the team does not bring back eight players from IR during the regular season, those unused designations will carry over into the postseason. So if seven players returned from Weeks 1-18, three more would be allowed to return during the playoffs.
The same player can return from IR twice during a season, but that would count as two of the maximum ten returns. Once a player goes on IR, he has to sit out four games before being eligible to return to the active roster.
Another notable change this year: Up to two players can go on IR before the initial 53-man roster is set and be eligible to return during the season. Previously, all players who went on IR before the initial 53-man roster were ruled out for the entire season.
Denver Broncos linebacker Drew Sanders (Achilles) is the team’s first candidate in 2024 to go on IR and return later in the season.
