The Broncos have officially placed linebacker Shane Ray on injured reserve. The good news is that Ray should be able to come back during the season as one of the Broncos’ two players designated for return. 
“It’s kind of what we thought,” GM John Elway said (via Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post). “With the surgery and where it falls is good for us, and here’s why we decided to go with it: He has to be on IR for eight weeks. The bye week counts and then our eighth game is on a Monday night. With that being on a Monday night, the eighth Sunday counts as a game. So we’ll get him back for the Kansas City game (on Oct. 30). So he’s only going to miss six games. We didn’t want to use that spot. He was not going to be back any earlier than that, and when he does come back he’ll be really ready to go. Having that fall that way for us helped us with that extra slot.”
Per league rules, Ray will be eligible to return after eight weeks on IR. By then, he should be fully recovered from his wrist surgery.
Ray broke out in 2016, racking up 48 tackles and eight sacks in his 664 snaps. Only two Broncos linebackers – Von Miller and Todd Davis – saw more action than Ray last year.
I thought a player had to be on the 53 man for a full day prior to being placed on IR if he was going to be able to return during season?