The Arizona Cardinals, along with the rest of the NFL, must trim their rosters to 53 players by Tuesday afternoon. One thing that will factor into decisions will be injuries to players.

Two reserves are commonly used for injured players and have different functions.

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There is the PUP (physically unable to perform) reserve and also injured reserve.

With roster cuts coming and potentially the Cardinals having to use both reserves, here is a rundown of how they both work.

PUP reserve rules and how the Cardinals might use it

The PUP reserve has a very narrow use. It applies to players who started training camp on the active PUP list and never were cleared to practice at any point.

The active PUP list is for players who suffered an on-the-job injury (resulting from a game, practice or training while at team facilities) prior to the first practice of training camp. They count against the offseason 90-man roster (or 91 when a team has a player with an international exemption), but are ineligible to practice. Once they pass their physical, they can be activated and practice with the team. Players cannot be placed back on that list once they practice. PUP is not for that.

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When teams cut their rosters down to 53 players, they must decide on players on the active PUP list. They must activate them, which will occupy one of the 53 roster spots, or move them to the PUP reserve. In that case, they will not count against the 53-man roster, but they are ineligible to play for at least the first four games of the season.

After four weeks, teams have five weeks to have those players return to practice, which opens a 21-day window during which they must be activated to the 53-man roster or end up on the PUP reserve for the rest of the season. If the three-week window is not opened in the five weeks after Week 4, those players miss the rest of the season.

There is no limit to the number of players a team can have on PUP because the scope of eligibility is so limited to begin with. As such, these players can return and not count against the designations

The Cardinals have four players currently on the active PUP list who are potentially eligible for the PUP reserve.

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They either will count against the 53-man roster or will have to miss the first four weeks of the season.

Injured reserve rules and how the Cardinals might use it

A player who is injured during training camp is eligible for injured reserve.

Up until recently, if a player were placed on injured reserve before spending at least a day on the active 53-man roster, his season was over. That has since changed slightly.

Last year, teams can place up to two players on injured reserve and designate them to return without being on the 53-man roster. Those players must miss at least the first four games of the season and, at any point thereafter, can return to practice, opening a 21-day window in which they must activate him to the 53-man roster or put him back on injured reserve.

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The Cardinals used this on two players last year with roster cuts, designating defensive lineman Darius Robinson and tackle Christian Jones to return before they spent a day on the active roster.

They carried cornerback Elijah Jones on the 53-man roster for a day before placing him on IR, so that he could potentially return later in the season. Jones the cornerback was designated to return later in the season but reverted to IR after he was not activated.

Beyond those two initial designations while bypassing the 53-man roster, if a player is on the 53-man roster and then lands on injured reserve, a team has eight times it can designate a player to return, open a three-week practice window to eventually be reinstated to the roster. A player can be designated to return twice in a season, should get injured again or have a setback in his return, but the second designation counts as one of the eight total.

The Cardinals have three injured players who could land on injured reserve and be designated to return before being on the active roster.

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OL Christian Jones (knee)

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: NFL rules for PUP, IR and how it affects the Arizona Cardinals