Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love is dealing with a high ankle sprain, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Sunday, Aug. 16. When asked earlier in the day whether Love had a high ankle sprain, head coach Mike LaFleur declined to answer. "It's an ankle, so we'll keep it at that," LaFleur said. The latest diagnosis on Love puts his availability for Week 1 into question. He has already been ruled out of the Cardinals' preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, Aug. 22, and LaFleur intimated that the Cardinals' starters will not play in their preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers a week later. The season opener is four weeks away, on Sept. 13. Love did not play in the Hall of Fame Game, but impressed a week later in his preseason debut, gaining 72 total yards on 14 touches. He played 27 snaps, more than any other presumptive Cardinals starter — a workload that drew widespread criticism after the injury.
On Sunday, LaFleur offered a defense against that criticism. "It's a rookie that hadn't played," LaFleur said. "Not to share too many secrets 'cause I haven't said it with the players yet, knowing that it was what it was going to be, in terms of how many games these guys were gonna play, for what we were looking for. So that's what the thought was." Previously, LaFleur had explained that player development at running back — perhaps more than any other position — requires live game reps as players acclimate to the speed of the NFL game. The trade-off now is that the Cardinals may be without their No. 3 overall pick when the season begins. And that's for a team that has already lost its second-round pick (Chase Bisontis) and fourth-round pick (Kaleb Proctor) for the season with knee injuries. Their third-round pick, quarterback Carson Beck, is limited in practice with a ribs injury, although his issue is not expected to be a long-term concern. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Deeper concern on injury to Cardinals' Jeremiyah Love, report says