Wide receiver Vincent Brown was the first player to be placed on injured reserve with the designation to return, but he may not be the first player in NFL history to return from that list.
Brown is eligible to start practicing because it has been six weeks since the team placed him on IR, but coach Norv Turner said that Brown has not completely healed from his broken ankle yet. So any hopes of his return bolstering the Chargers offense as the team tries to make a push for the top spot in the AFC West will have to be put on hold a little while longer.
"[Brown] is continuing through his rehab and I think he is making good progress,” Turner said, via CBSSports.com. “He hasn’t obviously been able to practice. He is in the middle of rehab. So, what he is able to do, we will find out probably in the next month.”
Brown will need time to get back up to speed in practice and then time to get his feet under him in games, which suggests a limited role for Brown if he’s able to return before the end of the season. That’s not what the Chargers had in mind for a promising second-year player, but it might be what they have to take.