Week five is on the horizon for the Arizona Cardinals.
Arizona’s date with the Detroit Lions is now less than 48 hours away as of the afternoon of Oct. 9.
With Friday passing by comes the ultimate injury designations for the Cardinals’ roster heading into Sunday.
The player with the most intrigue following their status this week is none other than rookie RB Jeremiyah Love. Follow the Cardinals’ ultimate verdict on the 2026 third overall draft pick below.
Love’s Final Status Made Clear on Friday
Arizona’s official injury report on Friday removes any doubt surrounding Love’s status.
Love was a full participant in Friday’s practice, and doesn’t carry a designation for the contest against Detroit. This is a major sigh of relief for fans of the Cardinals after the Notre Dame product sat out of the final drive of the week four loss to the New York Giants.
Head coach Mike LaFleur’s transparency surrounding Love’s status during the week made it seem as if he was trending towards playing. Now, the 21-year-old suits up for his fifth NFL game.
This is a prime opportunity for Love to put another strong performance forward, as Detroit’s defense is one of the more porous across the NFL. While the gifted back is facing a favorable matchup, the dynamic with backup Tyler Allgeier must be of focus as well.
Unfortunately, there are at least two key members of the Arizona roster that won’t suit up this week. Read more on this below.
Cardinals to be Without Two Key Players
The unfortunate reality of injuries is that NFL teams must brace for being without key pieces on a week-by-week basis.
This is the case in week five for the Cardinals. Arizona will be without starting safety Andrew Wingard and starting RG Isaiah Adams.
The loss of Wingard especially stings. The first-year member of the franchise grades out surprisingly well in pass coverage, as he ranks 24th out of 92 safeties in this department thus far (PFF).
Kitan Crawford currently sitting on injured reserve also murks the safety situation up. In a positive turn, however, third-year standout Dadrion Taylor-Demerson is making a return from a back injury.
The absence of Adams isn’t shocking in the slightest, as LaFleur already ruled the guard out earlier this week. This means that Jon Gaines II will once again step in as a starting player for a group in disarray following Paris Johnson Jr.’s season-ending biceps injury.
Former first-round pick Walter Nolen faces an uncertain status for Sunday’s game to put a bow on everything. The Ole Miss product didn’t carry an injury designation on Wednesday, but was a limited participant over the last two practices.
Losing Nolen would be a major blow for a unit that is gradually improving. Roy Lopez is among the most impressive interior lineman early on, while Darius Robinson finally seems to be breaking out himself.
Expect L.J. Collier to see more work this week in the event that Nolen is unable to go.
Cardinals Reveal Jeremiyah Love’s Final Status Ahead of Lions Matchup