NFL injury report rules, explained: How it works, penalties for violations and more to know in 2024

In an era of legalized sports betting — and high-stakes fantasy football — NFL injury reports matter to more than just the opposing team.

Any information about who is or isn't playing is especially valuable with sports betting as prevalent as it is today, with fans looking to gather as many details as possible to avoid throwing their money away. Proper injury reports also help prevent teams from gaining an unfair competitive advantage leading up to games.

Some unfortunate situations are unavoidable. A player can aggravate an injury in warmups or in the early moments of a game, and there just isn't anything that can be done about it. The NFL, however, seeks to have its teams be as transparent as possible ahead of games.

Here's a look at the precise NFL injury report rules and what happens when a team violates them.

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NFL injury report rules, explained

The NFL's injury report policy is broken down into three sections: The practice report, the game status report, and the in-game injury report.

The entire process is designed to create as much transparency as possible to avoid teams gaining a competitive advantage, and to ensure fans have the most up-to-date information.

"The policy requires that teams provide credible, accurate, and specific information about injured players to the league office, their opponents, local and national media, and the league’s broadcast partners each week during the regular season and postseason," per the NFL's official operations website.

"The reporting process is of paramount importance in maintaining the integrity of the game," the league continues.

You can find specifics on the three sections below, directly from the NFL's rulebook.

• The Practice Report provides clubs and fans with an accurate description of a player’s injury status and how much he participated in practice during the week. If any player has a significant or noteworthy injury, it must be listed on the practice report, even if he fully participates in practice and the team expects that he will play in the team’s next game. This is especially important for key players whose injuries may be covered extensively by the media.
• The Game Status Report provides clubs and fans with an accurate description of a player’s availability for the club’s next game. Teams must notify the league, their opponent, local and national media, and the league’s broadcast partners of the status of their injured players by 4 p.m. ET the day before their next scheduled game.
• The In-Game Injury Report requires club personnel to report in-game injury information factually and accurately as soon as it is available. In-game injury updates must be disseminated to the broadcast partner, the media and the fans in the stadium at the same time. Clubs must post injury updates on the stadium video boards, scoreboards or ribbon boards so fans at NFL games are also informed.

The 49ers' Christian McCaffrey decision sparked controversy after RB Jordan Mason said he found out three days before the game against the Jets that he would be starting. Based on that timeline, Mason knew he was starting a day before McCaffrey would be listed as questionable.

While McCaffrey was on the final injury report, Mason's comments raise suspicions that the 49ers did not give "an accurate description of a player's availability for the club's next game," as required by NFL rules.

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan denied that McCaffrey was ruled out on Friday. Shanahan had insisted McCaffrey was on track to play before the reigning Offensive Player of the Year was surprisingly made inactive 90 minutes ahead of kickoff.

MORE: How Jordan Mason stepped up for 49ers in Christian McCaffrey's absence

NFL injury designations, explained

Questionable

Players listed as questionable are still uncertain for their team's next games but often have a legitimate chance of playing.

The NFL removed the "probable" designation from the injury report in 2017, meaning a player has to be questionable or best to appear on the report. Some players expected to play still land on the injury report as questionable, and that was believed to be the case for McCaffrey ahead of the 49ers' game against the Jets before he was abruptly ruled out.

Doubtful

Players listed as doubtful are unlikely to play in their team's upcoming game, but the designation allows teams to leave the door open with hope for improvement in their condition ahead of kickoff.

Out

A player listed as out will not play in their team's upcoming game.

NFL injury report penalties

"A violation of the policy may result in Commissioner discipline, which may include a fine on the involved club, fines or suspensions of involved individuals, as well as the possible forfeiture of draft choices by the involved club," NFL rules state.

Injury report punishments aren't common, but they have happened under the new policy that took effect in 2017. The most recent example came in 2023, when the Falcons were fined $75,000 and coach Arthur Smith was fined $25,000 for a violation involving RB Bijan Robinson .

Robinson had a limited role in Atlanta's Week 7 game despite entering with no injury designation, and he later revealed that he wasn't feeling well from Saturday night into the game on Sunday. The Falcons never added him to the injury report despite rules mandating that teams update the injury report if a player's status changes.

The NFL levied the exact same fines against Steelers and coach Mike Tomlin in 2019 for failing to report an elbow injury that QB Ben Roethlisberger was dealing with, so $75,000 fines for a team and $25,000 for a head coach seem to be the standard for first-time violators.

There is no word regarding a possible investigation into the 49ers' use of the injury report regarding McCaffrey.