Jeremiyah

Love

The new injury Love picked up in Week 8’s win over the Cowboys has been diagnosed as a high-ankle sprain and will sideline Love for a minimum of four weeks. Love, who has been dealing with multiple ankle injuries this season, has had a tough start to his NFL career. In six career games he’s rushed for 268 yards and one touchdown on 76 carries, while adding 11 receptions for 36 yards and another score. His injury comes as Bam Knight is in the league’s concussion protocol, leaving Tyler Allgeier and Evan Hull as the only two healthy backs on the Cardinals’ 53-man roster. Allgeier could be in line for a significant role in Week 9 against the Seahawks if Knight is unable to clear protocol, and veteran Jerome Ford could also be promoted from the practice squad in the coming days. Love will not be eligible to return until Week 13 against the Eagles.

According to LaFleur, the injury is to “a new portion of the ankle” that Love hadn’t previously injured. LaFleur didn’t dismiss the possibility of Love being placed on injured reserve, suggesting he would wait until Wednesday to decide if that is on the table. A tough rookie season only gets tougher for Love, who sounds like he will be at risk of missing more time even if he isn’t an IR candidate. Meanwhile, Bam Knight, who left Week 8’s game with a concussion, is in the league’s protocol, making Tyler Allgeier the only healthy back on the roster entering Week 9 against the Seahawks.

His right ankle was rolled up on at the end of a running play and Love immediately slammed his helmet after walking off. He later went to the locker room with trainers and then was officially dubbed questionable. Not great. Love finished with nine carries for 23 yards, including a fourth-and-1 go at the goalline that he didn’t convert. We’ll see what reports say after the game but given Love has already missed time with ankle injuries this year, it’s hard to be optimistic about his status for next week.

After missing the last two games with an ankle injury, Love will return to the Cardinals in what could be a three-way split after the recent emergence of Bam Knight. Love was averaging 16.2 opportunities per game before being sidelined, with most of that work coming on the ground. With only two top-24 PPR performances to his name so far this season, he shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a boom-or-bust RB2 against the Cowboys.

That’s a second straight limited session for Love. The Cardinals are taking this slowly with the 21-year-old ahead of a potential return in Week 8 against the Cowboys, but fantasy managers will obviously need to pay close attention to how much he practices Friday and his injury designation.

We were hoping to see Love practice in full after taking two weeks off. While today’s limited session puts him on track to play in Week 8 against the Cowboys, Bam Knight and Tyler Allgeier are still worth stashing on benches, just in case. The Cardinals are finally handling Love’s recovery patiently, after giving him far too many touches early in the preseason.

This news comes from head coach Mike LaFleur, who spoke with the media on Monday. After missing the last two games with a nagging ankle issue, Love’s return to the field in any capacity suggests he could have a chance to suit up in Week 8 against the Cowboys. Love’s ankle injury slowed his production through the first five weeks of the season, with the rookie saying at one point that he would “probably just hinder the team” if he had to play through it. Love’s status will be one to watch throughout the week, but even if he’s active, he’ll likely be forced to split touches with either Tyler Allgeier or Bam Knight, who has been solid in Love’s absence.

Things have been trending in this direction all week, but LaFleur officially confirmed on Friday that Love will miss a second straight game. Tyler Allgeier and Bam Knight will likely split duties again in Week 7 after seeing a near 50/50 split in the touch distribution last week, with Allgeier’s 19 touches narrowly edging out Knight’s 17. Both Allgeier and Knight are fringe RB2/RB3 plays against a stout Broncos defense. In addition to Love the Cardinals also ruled out DT Walter Nolen III (ankle), S Andrew Wiggins (ankle), and OG Jo Gaines II (ankle).

Love didn’t practice on Wednesday and Thursday after missing Week 6. It doesn’t sound like he will practice at all this week. Tyler Allgeier and Bam Knight will split the backfield again this week. Allgeier out-carried Knight 18-15 last week, but Knight was far more effective, running for 80 yards in total. Allgeier posted just 38 yards. He still figures to be the lead runner this week, but Allgeier shine as a plug-and-play RB2 is waning headed into Week 7.

Love starts out not practicing for the second straight week due to an ankle injury. He missed Week 6 against the Rams and a DNP Wednesday puts him on the wrong side of questionable to play in Week 7 against the Broncos. Love will need to practice in some capacity to have a chance of playing this week, but Tyler Allgeier is back in the RB2 range if Love cannot go.