As many expected would be the case, the NFL has now decided It will retain the modified injured reserve rules from the 2020 season, according to a Tuesday report by Tom Pelissero of NFL Media.
Last season, the NFL league made changes to the injured reserve rule because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the move proved popular with most everyone. In short, the same injured reserve rules used in 2020 will be used again 2021.
Like was the case in 2020, an unlimited number of players can return from a team’s injured reserve list in 2021. Those players will be eligible to return from the injured reserve list after missing a minimum of only three games.
After a player spends three weeks on the injured reserve list, he then becomes eligible to return to practice. However, once he returns to practice, the team will then have 21 days to place him back on the active roster.
Prior to the rule change last season, the NFL rule state that a team had only two IR-return designations it could use in a season and a player was required to miss a minimum of eight weeks before returning.
It is important to point out that only players on a team’s 53-man roster after Sept. 1 will be eligible to be designated for return from injured reserve or the non-football injury list.
