Wide receiver Josh Gordon officially was conditionally reinstated by the NFL on Sunday and placed on the New England Patriots roster. But he won’t practice right away.
Gordon was placed on the Patriots’ non-football injury list upon reinstatement, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates. That’s the same list Julian Edelman has occupied all summer.
So, what does that mean? Gordon can be taken off the list at any point this summer but he can’t practice until that occurs. If he’s not removed from NFI by Aug. 31, however, then he will start the season on NFI-reserve and can’t be activated until after Week 6.
The physically unable to perform list essentially works the same way. Wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Cameron Meredith are on the PUP list. Rookie offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste also is on the NFI list.
A player is placed on PUP when he’s injured doing an NFL activity. A player is placed on NFI if he suffered the injury before entering the NFL or away from football. A player on NFI is not required to be paid his entire base salary.
So, if the Patriots believe Gordon can’t help them right away, or if they feel like they want to monitor him before he takes the field, they could keep him on NFI, opening another roster spot, until Week 7.
