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Targeting Chris Long's possible return
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11555/targeting-chris-longs-possible-return
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams moved swiftly to place defensive end Chris Long on injured reserve with the designation to return Wednesday afternoon.
Long's left ankle surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning with Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina. From there, the Rams and Long will have to follow league procedure before he can return to the mix in what figures to be an 8-to-10 week recovery.
The NFL added the designated to return form of injured reserve in 2012 with the idea of giving every team a chance to stash a player who might miss an extended period but not enough to be out for the season.
With that in mind, here are some basics to remember about how it works and how it will affect Long:
Each team can only use the designation to return once. Now that Long has been designated, the team cannot use the tag again. They did it with safety T.J. McDonald in 2013 and center Scott Wells in 2012.
The earliest Long can return to practice is six weeks from Wednesday, which would be Oct. 22, the week the Rams travel to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. That's at the absolute earliest and Long would not be eligible to play against the Chiefs.
Once Long begins practicing again, the Rams would have a maximum of 21 days to restore him to the active roster.
The earliest Long can play in a regular-season game is eight weeks from Wednesday, which would be Nov. 5. Obviously, the Rams don't play a game on a Wednesday night so the soonest he could play in a game would be the Nov. 9 game at the Arizona Cardinals. For that to happen, the Rams would have to restore him to the active roster after eight weeks.
Of course, the extent of Long's rehab is unknown at this point so pinpointing a specific return date right now is nearly impossible. Knowing Long, though, it wouldn't surprise if he came back on the front end of when the rules allow.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11555/targeting-chris-longs-possible-return
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams moved swiftly to place defensive end Chris Long on injured reserve with the designation to return Wednesday afternoon.
Long's left ankle surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning with Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina. From there, the Rams and Long will have to follow league procedure before he can return to the mix in what figures to be an 8-to-10 week recovery.
The NFL added the designated to return form of injured reserve in 2012 with the idea of giving every team a chance to stash a player who might miss an extended period but not enough to be out for the season.
With that in mind, here are some basics to remember about how it works and how it will affect Long:
Each team can only use the designation to return once. Now that Long has been designated, the team cannot use the tag again. They did it with safety T.J. McDonald in 2013 and center Scott Wells in 2012.
The earliest Long can return to practice is six weeks from Wednesday, which would be Oct. 22, the week the Rams travel to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. That's at the absolute earliest and Long would not be eligible to play against the Chiefs.
Once Long begins practicing again, the Rams would have a maximum of 21 days to restore him to the active roster.
The earliest Long can play in a regular-season game is eight weeks from Wednesday, which would be Nov. 5. Obviously, the Rams don't play a game on a Wednesday night so the soonest he could play in a game would be the Nov. 9 game at the Arizona Cardinals. For that to happen, the Rams would have to restore him to the active roster after eight weeks.
Of course, the extent of Long's rehab is unknown at this point so pinpointing a specific return date right now is nearly impossible. Knowing Long, though, it wouldn't surprise if he came back on the front end of when the rules allow.