Jeremiyah Love is headlining the rookies to keep an eye on this year, and it is for a team that no national rankings have high expectations for: the Arizona Cardinals. That alone tells a lot about the potential he flashed in the preseason games before he unfortunately sprained his ankle.
His rough recovery timeline had him recovering by Week 1; he was a game-time decision and listed as questionable till the very end, but Mike LaFleur gladly cleared him before the game.
Love is expected to shed that questionable label entering Week 2, but the Cardinals might still not be ready to turn their prized rookie loose just yet.
Cardinals Expected to be ‘Judicious’ with Jeremiyah Love
That’s why, On SI’s Albert Breer sees Arizona being “judicious” with Love when they play the Seattle Seahawks this weekend.
“Smartly, Arizona’s plan is to be judicious about running up mileage on their special young talent,” Breer writes. “And in time, they could have James Conner back, too, to help lighten the load.”
Breer further mentions how LaFleur’s current split smartly keeps a good amount of load off of Love, letting him ease into the game post-recovery.
“The Cardinals’ split in run-game workload is probably a good window into how they’ll manage Jeremiyah Love’s rookie year. The No. 3 pick had 11 carries and two catches against the Chargers, while veteran Tyler Allgeier had 17 carries and two catches.”
The best part is that the Cardinals already have Tyler Allgeier handling the dirty, heavy lifting as the bell cow. With Allgeier handling the backfield, the Cardinals can actually shield Love from taking heavy hits vs. the Seahawks.
Keeping Love active while shielding him from another potential injury this early in the season is the goal.
Mike LaFleur is on the same page as Breer regarding the big-picture plan, but parking his prized rookie on the bench is the absolute last thing he wants to do.
Mike LaFleur Wants Love Playing Judiciously
Even coming off an ankle sprain, LaFleur wanted Love out there to get his feet wet—keeping the expectations manageable without letting precious regular-season snaps go to waste.
“You can’t put these guys in a bubble wrap through the preseason, particularly the young guys,” LaFleur said on the Pat McAfee Show. “You just can’t simulate that in OTAs and training camp. They just have to go out there and play a little bit.”
Steering clear of the bubble wrap approach gives Love that actual room to make mistakes, and learn from it, like he did with his ankle injury in the preseason.
LaFleur mentioned how the lesson came at the right time for the rookie, and how he guided him after it.
“I think that preseason game was so beneficial for him to learn some of the things that you’re talking about in real time… I thought he learned as he went. And he and I had some really good talks about that half of football that he had. The 11 carries, the three catches, and I know he was in a really good spot and he felt the same way.”
Cardinals Taking Expected Approach with Jeremiyah Love Entering Seahawks Week