The NFL announced on Tuesday they have approved five playing rules, three new bylaws, and one new resolution. One of those new bylaws could impact the Detroit Lions, and specifically the return of safety Brian Branch.
The new resolution is regarding players who are placed on the reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list. As the rule previously outlined, a player that enters the season on the reserve/PUP—meaning they missed all of training camp with an injury, as well—must be sidelined for at least the first four games of their team’s season. That includes missing practices over that time.
Under the new resolution, those players can now return to practice after two weeks. Those players still are not permitted to play until they sit for four games, but now they have a built-in period to get themselves ready to return to game shape more quickly.
That could be big news for Branch, who suffered a torn Achilles in the Lions’ December 4 game against the Dallas Cowboys. While it’s unclear what Branch’s return timeline is right now, there’s a good chance he enters the season on the PUP list. If that’s the case and he’s healthy enough to return to practice after two games, it could accelerate his official return date.
The Lions have traditionally given a player coming off a serious injury at least two or three weeks of practice before they put them back on the field. For example, Alim McNeill, coming off a torn ACL, returned to practice on October 1, but didn’t play until October 20. Malcolm Rodriguez (ACL) returned to practice on October 27, but played his first game on November 23.
If Branch can get an early jump on that ramp-up period with this two-week head start, it’s possible he could be ready by Week 5. Under the old rules, if Branch entered the season on PUP, he wouldn’t be eligible to return to practice until Week 5, meaning he wouldn’t likely be ready to play until Week 8 or 9. Of course, all of that is assuming Branch will be ready to start practicing two weeks into the season—which is still very much an assumption at this point.
One more note on the new rule: under the old rules, if the Lions believed Branch could be ready to return to practice by Week 3, they may avoid putting him on the reserve/PUP entirely. But with this new rule, they could still keep him on PUP, return him to practice after Week 2, save a roster spot for the first four weeks of the season, and still have Branch ready by Week 5.
You can read all of the other approved proposals by the NFL below:
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