NFL inactives are required 90 minutes before kickoff, the league's website said in its report on the game-day rules. The time is tied to each game's own start, so a game that kicks off at 1:00 p.m. Eastern has its inactive lists due at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.
Inactives times for this week's games
The table subtracts 90 minutes from each kickoff time on the NFL's Week 10 schedule for the 2026 season. All times are Eastern.
| Game slot | Kickoff | Inactives due |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, November 12 | 8:15 p.m. | 6:45 p.m. |
| Sunday, November 15 (Munich) | 9:30 a.m. | 8:00 a.m. |
| Sunday early | 1:00 p.m. | 11:30 a.m. |
| Sunday late | 4:05 p.m. | 2:35 p.m. |
| Sunday late | 4:25 p.m. | 2:55 p.m. |
| Sunday night | 8:20 p.m. | 6:50 p.m. |
| Monday, November 16 | 8:15 p.m. | 6:45 p.m. |
The same subtraction works in any week: take the kickoff time on the schedule and count back one hour and 30 minutes.
How the list is handed in
The inactive list reaches the game officials at a fixed point in the pregame schedule. NFL Football Operations describes a meeting held one hour and 30 minutes before kickoff, where the referee and the other game officials meet in their locker room with both teams' public relations directors, league representatives and the television network. At that meeting, club public relations representatives deliver the Game Day Administration Report to the referee.
The report includes, according to the same page:
- the club's inactive list
- the players designated to have coach-to-player communication components in their helmets
- any players or coaches wearing microphones
The official team warm-up period begins 60 minutes before kickoff, the page says, which is 30 minutes after the lists are due.
What it means for fantasy lineups
The deadline falls 90 minutes before each kickoff, so the lists for the late Sunday games and the night game are due after the early games have started. In Week 10, the lists for the 4:05 p.m. games are due at 2:35 p.m. Eastern, more than an hour and a half after the 1:00 p.m. kickoffs. The injury report labels are covered in what questionable, doubtful and out mean.
A late change the league has allowed
A player can still be lost after the deadline. In December 2020 the league adjusted its game-day rules so that a club could activate a new player up to 30 minutes before kickoff when a positive COVID-19 test or a high-risk close contact designation came after the deadline for submitting inactives. The league's website said the change followed a Week 13 game in which the Baltimore Ravens' Dez Bryant was ruled out right before kickoff, after inactives had been announced.