What that means is, unlike other players whose seasons are over when they’re put on injured reserve, the Packers can reactivate Quarless after eight weeks.
Quarless sprained his knee on Monday night and is expected to be sidelined for about six weeks.
Why is this a gamble?
Each team only gets one such exemption and you usually want to use it on a guy who, you know, actually contributes. So the Packers are gambling that someone who’s useful to the team doesn’t go down with a 6-8 week type injury anytime soon.
If that happens, then they’ll either have to carry that player on the active roster or they’ll have to shut him down for the remainder of the year.