Attention on New Injured Reserve Rule in Light of Bishop's Injury

Linebacker Desmond Bishop could be a candidate to be the first player to come off injured reserve under the new NFL rule.

After what looked to be a serious injury to the leg of Desmond Bishop in the Packers' preseason loss to the Chargers last night, the starting inside linebacker could be a candidate for the new injured reserve (I.R.) rule that's going into effect this season in the NFL.

Under the new rule, one player on every NFL team is eligible to come off injured reserve after six week to resume practicing and can then return to game action after eight weeks.

It used to be that once a football player was placed on injured reserve, his season was done. Teams would carefully determine whether it was worth placing a player on I.R. and signing a new player as opposed to keeping him on the active roster in hopes that he could come back at some point later in the season.

Critics would point to baseball's disabled list in which players are able to come back after 15 or 60 days, but be replaced by another player on the roster in the meantime. The NFL has tried to avoid an football version of the disabled list so teams couldn't take advantage of the rule by essentially keeping more players on their roster under contractual control.

The new rule this year is an attempt to compromise with one single player eligible to return at some point later in the season.

One simplified case study would come from the Packers' Super Bowl season in 2010 when running back Ryan Grant was injured in Week 1 and placed on injured reserve, reluctantly ending his season. Grant maintained he was healthy enough to come back by late in the season, and under the NFL rule, would have been eligible to do so.

Teams obviously will take a wait-and-see approach to injured reserve because of the possibility that more injuries will happen in the next several weeks. They'll also take the severity of injuries into account.

At this point, it's difficult to tell whether Bishop will be lost for the season or lost for a couple months.

The extent of Bishop's injury is still unknown. Head coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged during last night's press conference that Bishop injured his knee and possibly his hamstring as well, but couldn't offer any more in the immediate aftermath of the game.

Don't expect the Packers to make a decision on the future of Bishop anytime soon, but keep in mind that he's a candidate to return later in the season in an avenue that wouldn't have been available to him just a year ago.

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Comments (4)

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FITZCORE1252's EVO's picture

August 10, 2012 at 10:29 am

So the player must sit a minimum of six weeks, but can come back at any point after that? Whether it's 7, or say 13 weeks... Is that right Brian?

GBP 4 LIFE

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Mr. Bacon's picture

August 10, 2012 at 01:39 pm

I think he meant that the "Marquee" player can return to practice after Week 6, and return to play after Week 8.

The Trade Deadline (Also Week 8) I believe was modified for this new rule. Week 6 & 7 allows coaches to evaluate the injury and then 8 was either trade or put the player I guess on IR for the season.

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yogamon's picture

August 10, 2012 at 01:53 pm

Before this game I was wondering if A.J. Hawk was going to be waived at some point in the preseason, thereby helping ease the Packers salary cap issues. Now, it looks like the Packers are stuck once again with Hawk's bloated salary and subpar play.

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bryce's picture

August 12, 2012 at 08:15 am

DJ Smith, you're up!

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