re: Saints IR promising rookies

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medical records would show if someone is actually injured

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that's kind of iffy, really. All these guys have various sprains, contusions and pulled muscles (even the "healthy" players). It's hard to quantify how bad they are.

For example, take Mark Ingram (and forget for a second all the bitching and complaints about him). He's a pretty big, physical back who ran with power in college. Early last season, he apparently had a foot/toe injury, something mild enough that he got past the trainers and team doctors (because he wanted to play through it). Nothing, apparently, so serious that you'd have the coach or front office say "you're hurt, you HAVE to sit". But the guy was ineffective, no power at all... remember the Tampa game where a corner stuffed him 1 on 1.
Look at later that season, Dallas game on... he might not always have made the best cuts, but it would take 2-3 players to wrap him up, and a lot of times he'd still be upright when the whistle blew. There was a clear difference.

Let's say you get a player losing effectiveness like that, but instead of a 1st rd pick counted on to start, he's a marginal roster player, one who won't see the field that much even if healthy. You don't see anything clear on the x-rays, but you know the first 2 weeks of camp he was turning heads, and now he's crumpling on contact... you can IR him if you choose. You don't HAVE to cut him, or keep him active.