NFL injured reserve rules, explained

The minutia of the NFL’s official rulebook is surpassed perhaps only by that of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFLPA. And as with most CBAs, it can be modified, and in 2022 the NFL’s injured reserve rules were tweaked.

This has become of great interest to fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers because the team’s best player, T.J. Watt, was placed on IR on Thursday. Watt suffered a pectoral injury during Sunday’s Steelers season-opening win at the Cincinnati Bengals.

In most basic terms, the official IR designation means Watt will miss the next four Steelers games. That is the minimum stay on the list, per IR rules agreed to and released in May (the minimum IR term was three games in 2021). The earliest Watt can play again for the Steelers is their sixth game, Oct. 16 at home against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That, of course, assumes Watt is healthy enough to play at that point. There is no maximum length for an IR stay over the 17-game, 18-week regular season. A player even can go on IR twice in one season.

The only limit is that each team has a maximum of eight available slots for an IR player to return during that season. That’s a far cry from up until a decade ago, when IR was a list only meant for a player being out for the entire remainder of the season. In 2012, the NFL allowed one returnee, but he needed to be designated as such at the time he was placed on IR.

Gradually, the rules have been relaxed; now, there is no need for a designation unless or until a player returns to practice. Once that happens, that player must be added to the active roster within 21 days, or that player is officially out for the season.

Indications are that won’t be an issue with Watt, allowing Steelers Nation to breathe a little easier.

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