Jeremiyah Love’s High Ankle Sprain Threatens Week 1 Debut as Cardinals’ Win Total Odds Loom

Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love is unlikely to play again this preseason after suffering a high ankle sprain, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday. The team is hopeful the No. 3 overall pick from this year’s draft can be ready for the regular-season opener on Sept. 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers, but a high ankle sprain typically requires a longer recovery window than a standard sprain, leaving his Week 1 status very much in question.

Love was one of the most electric prospects in this year’s draft class, and Arizona used a top-three selection to bring him to the desert as a foundational piece of its backfield. His preseason debut Thursday night against the Las Vegas Raiders offered an early glimpse of that promise — 23 snaps, 11 carries for 58 yards, and three catches for 14 yards — before the injury intervened and abruptly ended the trial run.

How the Injury Timeline Has Unfolded

Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur initially said Saturday that Love would miss “at least” the coming week of practice, with a reevaluation to follow. LaFleur declined at his Sunday news conference to characterize the severity of the ankle issue, telling reporters, “It’s an ankle, so we’ll keep it at that.” Schefter’s report Sunday filled in the gap, confirming the injury as a high ankle sprain and relaying that the club is targeting the Sept. 13 opener in Los Angeles as Love’s potential return point — effectively a four-week runway from the initial injury.

LaFleur has stressed that the issue isn’t expected to be long-term, saying the team simply wants to let the ankle heal before ramping Love back up. “Full transparency, the discomfort’s still just kind of there,” LaFleur said. “And so, just wanting to let him heal a little bit more and when we’re ready to go, we’re ready to go. It’s not going to be long term, like I said, but that’s where we’re at.” Still, the absence of a firm target date beyond “Week 1, hopefully” means Arizona could be without its lead back for a significant chunk of training camp reps regardless of how the healing process goes.

Complicating matters further, Love isn’t the only banged-up name in Arizona’s backfield. James Conner is dealing with a foot issue and Trey Benson has a knee injury of his own, leaving second-year back Tyler Allgeier as the presumptive top option in the interim. That thins out an already shallow depth chart heading into the stretch run of camp, right as position battles and roster cuts are being finalized across the league.

What It Means for Arizona’s Long Win-Total Odds

The injury news lands at an already difficult moment for Cardinals bettors evaluating the team’s season-long outlook. Arizona’s win total for the 2026 season has been set at 3.5 games across most major sportsbooks, with pricing that has fluctuated modestly over the summer — some markets have posted the Over at -136 and the Under at +115, while others have listed the Over as short as -152 with the Under at +125. That gap in the vig reflects a market still working through exactly how bad this roster projects to be, and losing a top-three rookie runner for an extended stretch — even if it’s officially just the preseason — only adds to the uncertainty bettors have to price in.

Love was drafted to be a difference-maker in an offense that needs juice wherever it can find it, and any extended absence into the regular season would put more pressure on a banged-up group of backs to hold the fort. If his Week 1 availability slips beyond the opener, expect the win total conversation to lean further toward the Under, and expect any rookie-of-the-year or offensive rookie futures tied to Love to see their numbers drift as sportsbooks account for missed opportunities to build early-season stats. For now, the situation is one to monitor closely as final roster decisions and Week 1 game plans start to take shape across the NFL.