He can return to the team after the Carolina game. He then has 2 weeks of practice time with the team before he can play. So after game 7 because of the bye he can play
That's not the case anymore. Any player who has been on IR for 6 weeks can immediately return to action, but just one player, and they don't have to be designated at all. That way you can choose whoever is on IR that you're going to need the most rather than having to decide when putting them on IR that they're going to be the player to return. The links to it were posted in another thread yesterday.
EDIT: Here it is:
Now, teams can simply choose a player who’s been on injured reserve for at least six weeks and activate him once he’s healthy enough to play again