Jeremiyah Love's debut preseason week ended in the training room. The Arizona Cardinals rookie running back sustained a high ankle sprain during Thursday night's preseason win over the Las Vegas Raiders and will not play again before the regular season begins, head coach Mike LaFleur confirmed.
LaFleur initially said Love would miss at least one week following the game but stopped short of specifying the type of ankle injury during his Sunday news conference. That detail came later Sunday, with the team saying it is hopeful Love can be ready for the regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 13.
That timeline is tight. High ankle sprains carry longer recovery windows than standard low ankle sprains, which makes the nine-day runway to the opener a genuine concern. Love will need to show he is fully mobile before Arizona trusts him with a feature-back workload in a Week 1 NFL game.
The injury came in Love's first preseason appearance. He handled 14 touches against Las Vegas—11 carries for 58 yards and three receptions for 14 yards. He was slow to find space early but broke off gains of 9, 14 and 16 yards on the ground as the game progressed, displaying the burst that made him a top-three selection in April's draft.
Love went to Arizona with the third overall pick after a college career that produced standout numbers across every major efficiency category. He led this year's entire rookie class in yards per carry at 6.66 and in yards after contact at 4.16. His forced missed tackle rate of 3.5 ranked second in the class, and he demonstrated durability and ball security—one fumble in 496 career touches—that appealed to teams evaluating him as a three-down back. He also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds.
The Cardinals' backfield was already complicated before Love went down. James Conner has not returned to full 11-on-11 practice since a foot injury ended his season last year. Trey Benson is also sidelined with a knee injury. Love's high ankle sprain now puts three of the team's top running backs on the injury list simultaneously.
Tyler Allgeier, who signed with Arizona in the offseason, is currently the healthiest option at the top of the depth chart. Bam Knight, Corey Kiner and Evan Hull round out the available backs. Allgeier is the most likely to see an expanded role if Love starts the regular season limited or unavailable.
The fantasy football picture shifts here, but the underlying case for Love as a long-term starter remains intact. Nine of the last nine running backs drafted in the top 12 picks finished inside the top 12 in fantasy points as rookies. Love's physical profile—size, speed and a three-down skill set—fits the projection of an immediate starter. The ankle changes his preparation, not his talent.
What Arizona needs to know quickly is whether Love can practice at full speed before Sept. 13. The Cardinals open against a Chargers defense that will test any running back, and arriving at less than full health against a legitimate AFC contender would be the wrong introduction to the regular season for a player the franchise invested a top-three pick in.
LaFleur's description of Love being "a little more sore than anticipated" following the Raiders game was the first indication something was off. The high ankle sprain diagnosis explains that soreness—and puts a harder edge on what the team's medical staff needs to manage over the next two and a half weeks.
