The Arizona Cardinals are reportedly placing Jeremiyah Love on injured reserve, ensuring the rookie running back will miss at least the next four games with a high ankle sprain.
It's a gut-punch for numerous reasons, as the third overall pick hasn't been fully healthy since preseason. Love's third ankle injury of his rookie season is now his most concerning.
How do the dominoes fall from here?
Sep 27, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love (4) reacts after rushing for a touchdown San Francisco 49ers in the second half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Love is first eligible to return from injured reserve in Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles. It's important to note Arizona has a bye week in Week 14, which may be tempting for the Cardinals to keep Love out for even more time to ensure he's properly healed.
After missing two prior games, Love's move to injured reserve makes him the third consecutive first-round pick by Arizona to miss at least six weeks of his rookie season, following in the footsteps of Darius Robinson (2024) and Walter Nolen III (2025).
Love was previously hindered by two different ankle injuries - one after playing a half of preseason and the next following him through the opening stages of the regular season, which caused him to be shut down for two weeks before returning on Sunday in Dallas .
Love still has an opportunity to return and finish his first season on a high note, though his inability to stay healthy largely suggests Arizona will be extra careful with his return, especially if the Cardinals are out of the playoff hunt when he is eligible to return.
His 2026 outlook, barring an eye-opening return full of highlight reel plays, will be overall disappointing. The third overall pick was expected to help take the Cardinals' offense to new levels, and while there's been small glimpses of his potential, nothing sustainable has been strung together to this point.
That begins to bleed into Love's outlook for the future, at least from an organization standpoint. By taking Love with the third pick, they instantly gave him the highest total of guaranteed money for any running back in the league. Part of the understanding is the Cardinals would use Love early and often to get the most bang for their buck, especially on his expensive rookie deal where he's still fresh.
It's fair to say Arizona hasn't gotten matched production for their value, for various reasons. While this won't lead to the Cardinals force-feeding Love 30 carries per game in the future, there is a financial component to his place in Arizona's offense.
The Cardinals, essentially, were hoping to have one of the league's best running backs early in his prime and paid the price to do so. The first of a four-year contract (with an option for a fifth season) hasn't paid out like they would have hoped.
And to be very clear, that's not on Love. He didn't choose to be taken so high with massive expectations placed immediately on his shoulders, nor was he hoping for such an injury-riddled season.
While it's been a forgettable start, Love should return at full health at some point before the end of the season, hopefully to build some momentum for a strong sophomore year in 2027.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Mike LaFleur walks the sidelines as they play the Denver Broncos at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Oct. 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Mike LaFleur currently has one healthy running back on his roster in Tyler Allgeier thanks to Love hitting injured reserve and Bam Knight currently in concussion protocol.
Allgeier, while impressing as a one-man show in the second half of the team's win against Dallas, shouldn't be relied on for similar production again within the next month of play. Knight's status for the foreseeable future is cloudy at best in this moment
Evan Hull and Jerome Ford exist as practice squad options for the Cardinals to elevate to the active roster.
The NFL's Nov. 10 trade deadline is a week away, though it's unlikely the Cardinals give up anything significant after sinking so many resources into their running back room this offseason.
Arizona is likely to bring in some free agent running backs for visits or tryouts. At this point in the season, familiarity is often a big bonus for veterans to get acclimated as soon as possible.
Two potential names to watch here would be Raheem Mostert or Cam Akers - both previously spent time under LaFleur in his past stints with the 49ers (Mostert) or Akers (Rams) and would be fairly fluent in absorbing LaFleur's system and terminology.
That same logic applies to potentially poaching a player off another team's practice squad. Note, if Arizona does take that route, that player would have to be on the Cardinals' active roster for a minimum of three weeks.
Arizona would have to be extremely confident in doing so - one name to watch would be familiar face Michael Carter, who has bounced up and down on the Tennessee Titans' practice squad this season, though as of this moment he's on their active roster after being elevated.
The Cardinals do have two potential options on injured reserve with James Conner and Trey Benson, though it's not currently known if either is close to potentially returning. For what it's worth, Benson would have to reach an injury settlement before being released if he wants to play in 2026 while Conner does have a designation to return.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/cardinals/onsi as Breaking Down the Fallout for Cardinals, Jeremiyah Love After IR Move .
