How Injured Reserve Works for the Giants: The Earliest Jaxson Dart and Brian Burns Can Return Under the Rules
The Giants have used one of their eight return designations. The rules would allow Dart back Oct. 25 and Burns back Nov. 8, but coach John Harbaugh has ruled Dart out for the regular season and the team has given no timeline for Burns.
Under the NFL's injured reserve rules, Jaxson Dart could play again Oct. 25 at Houston and Brian Burns Nov. 8 at Philadelphia, at the earliest. Neither date is a timeline. Coach John Harbaugh has ruled Dart out for the regular season, and the team has given no timeline for Burns.
The Giants have put three players on injured reserve since Sept. 18: cornerback Paulson Adebo on Sept. 18, Dart, a quarterback, on Sept. 24 and Burns, an outside linebacker, on Sept. 29. None of the three has been designated to return. The Giants have seven of their eight return designations left. The one they used went to cornerback Korie Black at the Aug. 30 roster cutdown.
The rules
A player who is eligible to return from injured reserve must miss at least four games before he can be activated. The league set the minimum at four games in 2022, NFL.com reported at the time.
Each team gets eight return designations for the regular season. A player can come back from the list at most twice in a season, playoffs included, and each return uses a designation. Since 2024 a team also gets two more designations for the postseason and can carry unused regular-season designations into the playoffs, for a maximum of 10, ProFootballTalk reported when the change was approved.
A designation opens a 21-day practice window. By the end of that window, the team must activate the player to the 53-man roster. If it doesn't, he stays on injured reserve for the rest of the season.
This year's final cutdown was 6 p.m. ET on Aug. 30. On cutdown day, a team could designate up to two players for return as it placed them on injured reserve, and those designations count against the eight. Any other player placed on the list before 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 31, the day after the cutdown, is out for 2026. A player placed on the list after that can be designated at any point in the season.
Injured reserve frees a spot on the 53-man roster. It does not free cap space: the player is still paid, and his salary stays on the team's cap.
Where the Giants stand
Players who went on the list before the cutdown, including wide receiver Calvin Austin III, placed Aug. 27, and defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris, placed Aug. 5, cannot return in 2026.
Adebo, Dart and Burns were placed during the season, and the team can designate each of them later.
The four-game minimum counts games, not weeks, so the Giants' Week 8 bye does not count toward it. Here is the earliest game each player can play under the rules:
| Player | Placed on IR | Games that count toward the minimum | Earliest eligible game | Team's stated timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Korie Black | Aug. 30 (designated for return) | Weeks 1-4 | Oct. 11 at Washington | None announced |
| Paulson Adebo | Sept. 18 | Weeks 2-5 | Oct. 18 vs. New Orleans | None announced |
| Jaxson Dart | Sept. 24 | Weeks 3-6 | Oct. 25 at Houston | Out at least through the regular season, coach John Harbaugh said |
| Brian Burns | Sept. 29 | Weeks 4-7 | Nov. 8 at Philadelphia | Torn ACL, surgery; no timeline given |
Dart and the playoffs
Asked about Dart's timeline at his Sept. 23 news conference, Harbaugh said, "Regular season at least, I'd say." He would not rule out a playoff return. "There's no way to know, it just depends on the recovery," he said.
The rules would not block a playoff return. Dart would need one of the Giants' remaining designations, and two more would come with a playoff berth. His 21-day practice window would have to end with an activation, and the Giants could make that move without playing him. The Giants have not said when Dart could practice.
Burns and the 53
Harbaugh confirmed Sept. 28 that Burns tore his ACL and will have surgery. The team moved him to injured reserve Sept. 29.
Moving Burns to injured reserve opened a spot on the 53-man roster. On the same day, the Giants released wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and signed wide receivers Braxton Berrios and Charlie Jones from the practice squad. After placing Dart on injured reserve, the Giants signed quarterback Jake Haener from the practice squad Sept. 26. On Sept. 28 the Giants waived Haener and acquired quarterback J.J. McCarthy from Minnesota for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
Over the Cap lists Burns' 2026 cap number at $21,383,333, and that full amount stays on the Giants' cap while he is on injured reserve.