Although the NFL tabled a potentially radical change to the onside kick rule for the 2020 season, the league’s owners did approve another important expansion to the rules regarding returns from injured reserve.
Starting next season, teams can designate up to three players for return from injured reserve, up from two during the 2019 season.
The NFL originally allowed one player to return from injured reserve in 2012. It was expanded to two players in 2017.
The Green Bay Packers were fortunate on the injury front last season. Tight end Jace Sternberger was designated for return from injured reserve in November, but the team didn’t need to use their second return designation until the days before the NFC title game, when the Packers designated safety Raven Greene, who ended up not playing in the contest.
However, injury luck comes and goes in the NFL, and another designation slot could prove valuable as teams navigate through injuries and attempt to return players from significant injury during the course of a season.
It’s important to note: Any player designated for return from injured reserve must be on the 53-man roster to start the regular season. For example, the Packers still couldn’t have brought back receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, who went on injured reserve with an ankle injury before making the final roster last year, under the new rules.
In 2018, the Packers designated receivers Jake Kumerow and Trevor Davis for return from injured reserve. More notably, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was designated for return for one game – a loss in Carolina – in 2017.
