The alphabet soup that is injury designation in the NFL is confusing. This might be by design, forcing teams to pay strict attention to the rules presented to them.
That’s a joke. Sort of.
They all do make sense, and there are valid reasons why the PUP list is different from IR and IR-Designated to Return (a.k.a. Short Term IR or IR-Recall). Since the Steelers find themselves on the verge of having players out with a variety of different distinctions after final cuts are announced — including Maurkice Pouncey, who appears to be a prime candidate for one of those designations. Surgery on his ankle was expected to take place Monday or Tuesday, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. It seems wise to go over all roster designations now.
First, here are the key designations and their definitions, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Physically Unable to Perform (PUP)
There are two kinds of PUP designations. The first one, Active PUP, is given to a player before training camp begins. If the player is on that list, he’s exempt from the roster, and is unable to practice. Pouncey, Senquez Golson, Mike Adams, Bruce Gradkowski and Shawn Lemon were placed on that list to start the Steelers’ training camp this year. Lemon was eventually waived, Pouncey and Gradkowski were removed from that list and Golson and Adams are still on it.
Upon the final roster cuts, players can be moved from the Active/PUP to the Reserve/PUP. The Reserve/PUP list keeps a player exempt from the 53-man roster, but they are not allowed to practice in any form for six weeks into the season (weeks, not games).
After those six weeks, the player is eligible to return to practice. He can then practice for up to three weeks before being required to be added back to the active roster, placed on injured reserve or released.
A player cannot be added to the PUP list after he has practiced any amount — even one snap.
Considering Golson just had surgery on his shoulder last week, it appears certain he’s headed for Reserve/PUP. That would put him out for sure for the first six weeks of the season. He can practice after that, but that isn’t a requirement. He has until Week 9 to practice. If he isn’t practicing by that point, he must be placed on injured reserve.
Mike Tomlin did not note any changes to Adams’ status as of last week. Adams had back surgery July 20, and was said to be out for four weeks.
Non-Football Injury (NFI)
Any sort of other issue a player may have that’s keeping him out of action fits in this designation. The rules are exactly the same as the PUP list, but it’s for issues outside of injuries.
The Steelers signed punter Adam Podlesh last season, but he started training camp on the NFI list after his wife had complications from giving birth to their child. He wasn’t able to report to camp, and was eventually released from the team.
Injured Reserve (IR)
A player placed on injured reserve must have a “major injury,” which is defined as one that will prevent the player from playing football for 42 calendar days from the date the player was injured. The player gets all of his salary due that year guaranteed, but is not allowed to practice at all for the remainder of the year. He does not count against the team’s 53-man roster, but his salary is counted against the salary cap.
Packers WR Jordy Nelson reportedly tore his ACL in the Steelers’ victory over the Packers Sunday. With that, he will likely be placed on IR. He’ll get his salary for the season, but he cannot practice again until next year. The Packers will have a roster spot open in his absence.
Waivers/Waived with Injury
During the offseason and preseason (or, up until the final cuts deadline), players with four years or less of accrued service in the NFL are placed on waivers before they can be placed on IR. This prevents teams from placing on injured reserve younger players they wish to keep on their roster without having to use a roster spot for them. While the salary cap as well as guaranteeing their salary can help deter that as well, it’s another piece of a checks and balances system between teams in the league.
When the Steelers waived Devin Gardner with injury, he was exposed to waivers — meaning, any other team could pick up his contract, knowing he was injured. No one claimed his contract, so he reverted automatically to the Steelers’ IR list.
Oftentimes, teams and players negotiate the terms of their release after injury if there isn’t a mutual interest in the player remaining with the team. Upon coming to a settlement, the player is released and is a free agent. Not many undrafted rookies, like Gardner, end up on a team’s IR list. He did not, and is a free agent now.
So Golson cannot be placed on IR now without exposing him to waivers. That wouldn’t be smart of the Steelers, and to help prevent teams from stashing away young players, the rules are set to make teams carry young players onto their 53-man roster in order to put them on IR without risk of losing them to another team.
Injured Reserve — Designated to Return
This was instituted in 2012, and the purpose of the rule is to create a middle ground between IR and PUP. It used to be that if a player was going to be out for an extended period of time, but perhaps not the entire season, a team had to either keep him on the roster that entire time, or put him on the IR and not get him back that year.
The Short Term IR can only be applied to one player on a team, and it follows similar rules of the IR and PUP lists. A player must have an injury that will keep him out for 42 days, he’s not allowed to practice with the team until after Week 8 of the regular season, and he’s allowed to practice for three weeks after that.
After three weeks from his first practice, he must either be added to the active roster, placed on IR or released.
The Steelers know this rule well. From 2012-14, the only three years in which Short Term IR could be used, they added David DeCastro, Matt Spaeth and Jarvis Jones to Short Term IR. The prognosis for Pouncey is eight weeks, perhaps longer, making him a prime Short Term IR candidate.
August 25, 2015
How to decipher NFL injury designations
17by Neal Coolong • Coverage • Steelers
The alphabet soup that is injury designation in the NFL is confusing. This might be by design, forcing teams to pay strict attention to the rules presented to them.
That’s a joke. Sort of.
They all do make sense, and there are valid reasons why the PUP list is different from IR and IR-Designated to Return (a.k.a. Short Term IR or IR-Recall). Since the Steelers find themselves on the verge of having players out with a variety of different distinctions after final cuts are announced — including Maurkice Pouncey, who appears to be a prime candidate for one of those designations. Surgery on his ankle was expected to take place Monday or Tuesday, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. It seems wise to go over all roster designations now.
First, here are the key designations and their definitions, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Physically Unable to Perform (PUP)
There are two kinds of PUP designations. The first one, Active PUP, is given to a player before training camp begins. If the player is on that list, he’s exempt from the roster, and is unable to practice. Pouncey, Senquez Golson, Mike Adams, Bruce Gradkowski and Shawn Lemon were placed on that list to start the Steelers’ training camp this year. Lemon was eventually waived, Pouncey and Gradkowski were removed from that list and Golson and Adams are still on it.
Upon the final roster cuts, players can be moved from the Active/PUP to the Reserve/PUP. The Reserve/PUP list keeps a player exempt from the 53-man roster, but they are not allowed to practice in any form for six weeks into the season (weeks, not games).
After those six weeks, the player is eligible to return to practice. He can then practice for up to three weeks before being required to be added back to the active roster, placed on injured reserve or released.
A player cannot be added to the PUP list after he has practiced any amount — even one snap.
Considering Golson just had surgery on his shoulder last week, it appears certain he’s headed for Reserve/PUP. That would put him out for sure for the first six weeks of the season. He can practice after that, but that isn’t a requirement. He has until Week 9 to practice. If he isn’t practicing by that point, he must be placed on injured reserve.
Mike Tomlin did not note any changes to Adams’ status as of last week. Adams had back surgery July 20, and was said to be out for four weeks.
Non-Football Injury (NFI)
Any sort of other issue a player may have that’s keeping him out of action fits in this designation. The rules are exactly the same as the PUP list, but it’s for issues outside of injuries.
The Steelers signed punter Adam Podlesh last season, but he started training camp on the NFI list after his wife had complications from giving birth to their child. He wasn’t able to report to camp, and was eventually released from the team.
Injured Reserve (IR)
A player placed on injured reserve must have a “major injury,” which is defined as one that will prevent the player from playing football for 42 calendar days from the date the player was injured. The player gets all of his salary due that year guaranteed, but is not allowed to practice at all for the remainder of the year. He does not count against the team’s 53-man roster, but his salary is counted against the salary cap.
Packers WR Jordy Nelson reportedly tore his ACL in the Steelers’ victory over the Packers Sunday. With that, he will likely be placed on IR. He’ll get his salary for the season, but he cannot practice again until next year. The Packers will have a roster spot open in his absence.
Waivers/Waived with Injury
During the offseason and preseason (or, up until the final cuts deadline), players with four years or less of accrued service in the NFL are placed on waivers before they can be placed on IR. This prevents teams from placing on injured reserve younger players they wish to keep on their roster without having to use a roster spot for them. While the salary cap as well as guaranteeing their salary can help deter that as well, it’s another piece of a checks and balances system between teams in the league.
When the Steelers waived Devin Gardner with injury, he was exposed to waivers — meaning, any other team could pick up his contract, knowing he was injured. No one claimed his contract, so he reverted automatically to the Steelers’ IR list.
Oftentimes, teams and players negotiate the terms of their release after injury if there isn’t a mutual interest in the player remaining with the team. Upon coming to a settlement, the player is released and is a free agent. Not many undrafted rookies, like Gardner, end up on a team’s IR list. He did not, and is a free agent now.
So Golson cannot be placed on IR now without exposing him to waivers. That wouldn’t be smart of the Steelers, and to help prevent teams from stashing away young players, the rules are set to make teams carry young players onto their 53-man roster in order to put them on IR without risk of losing them to another team.
Injured Reserve — Designated to Return
This was instituted in 2012, and the purpose of the rule is to create a middle ground between IR and PUP. It used to be that if a player was going to be out for an extended period of time, but perhaps not the entire season, a team had to either keep him on the roster that entire time, or put him on the IR and not get him back that year.
The Short Term IR can only be applied to one player on a team, and it follows similar rules of the IR and PUP lists. A player must have an injury that will keep him out for 42 days, he’s not allowed to practice with the team until after Week 8 of the regular season, and he’s allowed to practice for three weeks after that.
After three weeks from his first practice, he must either be added to the active roster, placed on IR or released.
The Steelers know this rule well. From 2012-14, the only three years in which Short Term IR could be used, they added David DeCastro, Matt Spaeth and Jarvis Jones to Short Term IR. The prognosis for Pouncey is eight weeks, perhaps longer, making him a prime Short Term IR candidate.