Jeremiyah Love Injured, Latest on Star RB's Status Ahead of Cardinals' 2026 NFL Season

Following his impressive preseason debut on Thursday, Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love is dealing with an ankle ailment.

According to ESPN's Josh Weinfuss, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said Love will be out this week due to a sore ankle.

LaFleur added that Love will be re-evaluated at the end of the week, although Weinfuss noted that the coach "wouldn't commit to a long-term prognosis for Love."

After Love registered 58 yards on 11 carries and caught three passes for 14 yards in the Cardinals' 27-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, LaFleur informed reporters of Love's ankle issue.

Per Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official website, LaFleur said he didn't think the injury was serious and added that Love was "fine."

However, on Saturday, LaFleur said Love was "a little bit more sore than he left" when he came to the facility on Friday, which prompted him to rule the rookie No. 3 overall pick out for the week:

Given the premium draft capital the Cards used on Love, he is widely expected to be a massive part of their offense during the regular season.

Because of that, there isn't much of a reason to press the issue during the preseason, especially since Arizona has a ton of depth behind Love in Tyler Allgeier, James Conner, Trey Benson and Bam Knight.

LaFleur's comments suggest that Love will not play in next Saturday's preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, which is the third of four preseason contests on Arizona's schedule.

That should provide more opportunities for the running backs behind Love on the depth chart to make their case for the 53-man roster.

Ultimately, the Cardinals' main objective with Love figures to be ensuring that he is healthy and ready to play in their regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 13.