The Oakland Raiders placed defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. on injured reserve Monday because of a hip injury.
However, a league source told ESPN that the Raiders expect Edwards to return to play later this season.
Teams no longer have to designate a player to return at the time of the injured-reserve transaction, but they can bring only one player off IR per season. That player must miss eight weeks from the date he was placed on injured reserve. After that, he would be eligible to play in a game.
Edwards was carted to the locker room with a hip injury in the Raiders' preseason victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 12. He was injured in a crushing collision with Cardinals running back Chris Johnson at the line of scrimmage.
The defensive end out of Florida State had 33 tackles with two sacks in his rookie season in 2015. The Raiders drafted him in the second round, 35th overall.
Edwards played in 14 games, including 10 as a starter, but he missed the last two games with a neck injury.
