Arizona Cardinals fans finally caught a glimpse of rookie running back Jeremiyah Love in his preseason debut against the Las Vegas Raiders. Unfortunately, Love's preseason appears to be on hold now after suffering a minor ankle injury.
Head coach Mike LaFleur announced that Love's ankle was "a little bit more sore than we were anticipating," adding that their prized running back will be out at least a week before reevaluating his status.
"This week and then we'll kind of go from there and reevaluate," said LaFleur. "Honestly, all the focus is on August 15, Saturday. Here we are in our Tempe [practice] block. We'll kind of reevaluate going into next week. But he will be out this week."
Cardinals can't risk anything else happening to Jeremiyah Love
Love made the most of his 11 carries against Vegas, recording 58 rushing yards in addition to three catches for 14 yards receiving.
You could make the argument that even that amount of preseason action was too much unnecessary risk attached to the No. 3 overall draft selection. Fortunately, it's a minor injury, and the Cardinals are taking a cautious approach. But from what Love has already shown in that limited preseason action, it should already be enough to pull the preseason plug in its entirety.
Arizona's next preseason matchup comes Saturday, August 22 against the Dallas Cowboys, which likely won't include Love based on LaFleur's comments. He should be healthy enough to return for the Cardinals' final preseason game, slated for Friday, August 28 against the Green Bay Packers. But why should they risk it?
It would be surprising if Love weren't ready for the Week 1 season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, which is less than a month away (Sunday, September 13). Until then, the Cardinals should keep their Ferrari in the garage.
They've already suffered two season-ending injuries to their rookie class between fourth-rounder Kaleb Proctor and, more recently, second-rounder Chase Bisontis. The last thing they can afford is anything more significant happening to Love.
The Cardinals have tremendous depth at running back, starting with the underrated offseason signing of Tyler Allgeier. Though that could limit Love's volume in the short term, it will help Arizona preserve its steep draft investment. That starts now, with an obvious decision to sideline him until Week 1.
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