TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals are holding star rookie running back Jeremiyah Love out of practice on Wednesday as Week 6 preperations for the Los Angeles Rams ramp up.
"Take him one day at a time. You know, we want to get this ankle right and do it the right way," Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur told reporters on Wednesday.
Love has been nursing an ankle injury through the opening stages of his rookie season after suffering a different ankle injury during preseason. While he hasn't missed any regular season action, Love's participation and impact has been slightly hindered.
There's been some talks about potentially shutting Love down to allow the ankle to heal, though LaFleur didn't seem willing to do that. Arizona is just 1-4 and is again favored to lose in Los Angeles.
"Listen, I'm going to try to be as candid as possible with also knowing that everyone's listening to this too, right? But he's a tough dude. You guys see the way he plays and how aggressive he is with his cuts. I mean, imagine being a running back in the NFL trying to put the foot down and cut the way that you know that you're capable of," LaFleur said.
"And so we all are in agreeance — as much as you know he wants to battle through — we're all in agreeance right now, it's just hey, give [the injury] a little bit of rest and see as the week goes on, what that'll entail for Sunday."
Love, the No. 3 overall pick, has 67 carries for 245 yards and one touchdown on the ground while adding 11 receptions for 36 yards and a score through the air.
"I think early at his career [he battled injuries], but you had the right [ankle] early, and then now you got the left one. So now you're just kind of — it's just double dipping. The right side, the preseason one's fine. It's the other one right now that's the lingering issue. They're ankles, you know, it's an ankle. I'm not a doctor, and each body's a little bit different," LaFleur continued.
"Like the way he came back from the one in the preseason was unbelievable, like he doesn't even feel it. But this one is the one that happened kind of when the regular season started, and it just lingered."
Has Love lost any of his explosiveness?
"You'd have to ask him that," LaFleur added. "I know how explosive he is. I know how explosive he wants to be. So I mean I think that's a fair assessment in some aspects. Again, I don't think it's an overall hindrance, but again the the rest for him is going to be vital."
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