Rarely has any rookie had the type of anticipation that Jeremiyah Love did for his NFL debut with the Arizona Cardinals.
Even with a preseason injury, the Cardinals Week 1 headlines were all about whether Love was playing vs. the Chargers in Week 1. And that was with Tyler Allgeier already locked in as RB1.
During his recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur revealed why Love had the type of chokehold on the entire building.
“I know that he’s gonna be a really good football player, and I think he’s gonna be an even better person,” LaFleur told Pat McAfee on his show.
McAfee couldn’t agree less, saying the type of aggressive plays Love ran in the preseason instantly set him apart.
Mike LaFleur on Jeremiyah Love’s Injury
“He was running like every single play was his last play. Like, if he’s running like that in the preseason, that’s a great trait,” McAfee said.
Sure, that aggressive running style came with a price when Love went down on the final snap of his preseason debut after racking up 11 carries and 3 catches. But LaFleur wasn’t backpedaling and buying into the bubble-wrap mentality either. The Cardinals head coach knew keeping him on the sideline meant more harm than good, especially for a first-round pick like Love.
“You can’t put these guys in a bubble wrap through the preseason, particularly the young guys,” LaFleur told McAfee. You just can’t simulate that in OTAs and training camp. They just have to go out there and play a little bit.”
Plus, Love got an early taste of the sidelines before the regular season even kicked off—a rare sight for a player who stayed remarkably clean on the injury report during his college career at Notre Dame.
LaFleur made it clear that taking those lumps in August taught the rookie his lesson about managing his own high-octane motor, potentially saving him from over-exuberant hits down the road.
“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.”
Love to Play in Week 2?
Love was playing behind Allgeier, but Week 1 still showed that the rushing back duo’s ceiling ultimately comes down to Love.
In his 13 total touches, Love flashed the footwork, speed, and general “it factor” that turned heads around the league.
“The Saquon Barkleys that look different with the ball in their hands,” as Raising Zona’s Reese Kunz writes, while giving Love a B+ for his performance vs. the Chargers.
As for Week 2 against the Seahawks, LaFleur expects the rookie to only go up from here, but for Week 1, LaFleur believed that
He will just continue to improve because his conditioning will continue to improve. So, to be able to get him back for the week leading up to it, I thought he was at the perfect number of reps, and we’ll see where Week 2 goes.
Cardinals’ Mike LaFleur Gets Real on Jeremiyah Love Injury, NFL Debut