makkapakka":lyo85s2f said:
So Okung is on IR and Harvin is on PUP? I guess that I'm not familiar with the nuanced difference. I still think the articles are missing a key point.
I'd rathe not be reminded about Harvin in every article, only because he hasn't played for us yet.
In a nutshell PUP means the player never played after the start of training camp and still cant at the beginning of the season. If you practice or play in a preseason game, even one play, you no longer qualify for PUP. PUP players do NOT count against the regular season 53 man limit, but can return after week 6 of the regular season. You need to clear a roster spot for them. If they are still not healthy enough to play they usually get moved to IR.
IR is a player with a significant injury who was not eligible for PUP because they practiced in training camp or played in a preseason game.
Injured players count against the 53 man roster, so if a player experiences a significant injury you need to make a judgement call. You can place them on IR and that player is not allowed to play for the entire year (but do NOT take up a roster spot on the 53), or they can take up a roster spot and you're limited to a pool of 52 players of which to activate 46 on game day. You could IR a player that is PUP eligible, but there really isn't a reason to since you want to hope for the best that they can return at Week 6 when you can IR them anyway.
This year there is a new designation called "Injured Reserve Designated for Return". You're allowed to place it on one and only one player per year (We used it on Okung). They no longer take up a roster spot, but can return after sitting out 8 games.
Call them missing key players if you want. It's really not that big of a deal. Starters are just your base offense and your base defense.
So for offense it's usually the Line (5), 1 TE, 2 WR, QB, RB, FB. So you're not factoring in additional receivers.
On D it's the base 4-3. So it would exclude guys like Bennett, who may actually play more snaps than Big Red in certain games.