Of the many roster moves made on Saturday, plenty of them involve players landing on injured reserve. But with the NFL relaxing in recent years the ability of players on IR to return later in the year, there’s an important exception to keep in mind.
Players aren’t eligible to return from IR unless they are on the active roster through 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 3.
This means that the player must be on the active, 53-man roster -- and that he must stay there for at least one day. Thereafter, he’s eligible to be placed on IR with the opportunity to return.
When the rule first was implemented, the player had to be designated as a candidate to return when placed on IR. Now, any player who meets the requirement to return to the roster can be brought back without prior designation. Also, two players per team can now be returned from IR.