Jameel Mcclain may be returning soon..

[RavenScallywag]

After game six they have 3 weeks to decide if they are going to bring him off PUP and then an additional 3 weeks to add him to the active roster. If either of those time spans pass he can't come off PUP. Pretty sure it works that way

Still, that gives us about 6 more weeks before we'd have to make a move. Plenty of time to get him in football shape.

[lobachevsky]

IIRC a player on regular season PUP can return to practice at any time within 3 weeks after game 6, & if he does not he goes to IR. Once he starts practicing, the team has 3 weeks to either put him on the roster or IR him. Found this on a Whiners fan board--

If a player started on the Active/PUP list and isn't medically cleared by the end of the preseason, the 49ers may transfer any Active/PUP player to the Reserve/PUP.

These players are prevented from playing and practicing during the first six weeks of the season. What makes the Reserve PUP advantageous is that any player on the Reserve PUP list does not count against the 53-man roster. If a player isn't activated after the sixth week, the team has a three-week window to make a decision to: 1.) place the player on injured reserve; 2.) release the player; or 3.) get him back to practice. As soon as the player returns to practice, the team has another three-week window to add the player back to the 53-man roster, or place them on the Injured Reserve list.

--which seems to confirm this. (Bold added)

If that's true, then the only way the Ravens could delay a decision on McClain for 6 weeks is for him not to return to practice until the last possible minute.

[B-more Ravor]

The PUP rules were changed slightly this past summer. A player can now start practicing up to week 11, instead of week 9. Once he starts practicing, it's still a 3-week period before a decision to activate him or IR him has to be made.

So, they essentially added 2 weeks onto the time frames.

[Bigfish]

Nice work on the PUP rules guys. McClain isn't someone that excites me so much with Brown and Smith playing well. I'm more interested in if/when we're getting Pitta back.

[elland]

So lets just list all the bad games McClain had last year in run def then?

And size? McClain is probably well under 240 lbs at this point, Bynes is in much better shape, and hasn't been inactive for almost a year. I don't understand the negative perception on Bynes, I'm pretty sure filmstudy has given him a bunch of positive grades as a run defender so far this season. He does his job well, he's not good in coverage, but thats not supposed to be his role.

And I could say the same for McClain, there is a reason that 3 different DCs started him over Ellerbe, the ILBer who played together with Ray, have had to play with a lot of disciplin, just like the safety who played together with Ed, neither of those positions had an easy job.

And even though Darryl Smith has been great so fare he is also coming back from injury and is old, if he got a new injury, I would like to have McClain to step in + I would imagine all his experience would help him. The success from Steelers and Ravens LB corps over the years, solid DL.. good pass rush and experience inside.

[lobachevsky]

The PUP rules were changed slightly this past summer. A player can now start practicing up to week 11, instead of week 9. Once he starts practicing, it's still a 3-week period before a decision to activate him or IR him has to be made.

So, they essentially added 2 weeks onto the time frames.

Thanks again, Brian. Funny how I couldn't find that on the net--all I came up with was a bunch of fan sites that looked knowledgeable but turned out didn't know about the change (or were published before it was approved).