The COVID-19 pandemic forced the NFL to alter some of its standard rules. One such rule change that became popular during the pandemic is going to stay for another year. On Tuesday, the league sent a memo to all 32 teams informing them that they are making it official that players are eligible to come off injured reserve after missing three games rather than eight, which was the case under the previous rule.
Teams can bring back an unlimited number of players from the injured reserve or the non-football injury list. However, this rule only applies to players on the 53-man roster after cutdowns later this summer. The League drew the line to prevent teams from stashing players for the future without taking up the spots on the current roster. This means that players on the roster after 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 1 qualify to come off injured reserve after just three weeks.
This rule was made with the goal of allowing greater flexibility for teams amid the pandemic during the 2020 season. Under the regular stipulations prior to this special rule, clubs were only allowed to bring two players back from injury reserve after they’d missed eight games. Naturally, this opens things up a bit more for every team.
