Jeremiyah Love did not ease his way back in on Thursday night. He started the Cardinals’ preseason opener against the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, played the entire first half and got a proper look at game-speed football in a 27-14 win that gave Arizona exactly the sort of useful early answer it wanted.
The numbers were tidy enough to matter. Love finished with 11 carries for 58 yards and added three receptions for 14 yards, which is the kind of all-purpose workload that tells you more than a highlight clip ever could. For a 21-year-old first-round running back who had been expected to miss a week because of a sore ankle, simply getting through a full first half was already significant. Doing it while touching the ball that often made it more so.
Love looked comfortable once he got rolling
Love said he “kind of got into a little bit of a groove,” and that tracks with the way the outing unfolded. He had a 9-yard run and a 15-yard run in the half, then kept finding ways to stay involved as a receiver. It was not a night built on one explosive burst. It was built on steady involvement, which is often what matters most in a preseason opener when a player is trying to shake off rust and show he can handle volume.
He also admitted he “kind of wish I would have played just a tad bit longer,” though he added that he thought he played enough for people to see. That sounds about right. The Cardinals did not need to overstate the performance to understand its value. They got a starter back in action, they got him moving, and they got proof that he could be used in more than one way.
That matters because the bigger question was never whether Love could touch the ball. It was whether he could look functional, decisive and ready after the ankle issue had threatened to slow him down. Based on this first extended preseason look, the answer was yes.
A useful window for the Cardinals, with more to clean up
Mike LaFleur called it a “good little window” but said there is still “stuff to clean up for sure in all three phases,” which is the right kind of sober postgame response. The Cardinals do not need to turn a preseason half into a coronation. They just need confirmation that the pieces fit well enough to keep building.
There was plenty else going on, too. Jacoby Brissett operated efficiently, and the Cardinals’ offense as a whole moved with purpose. But Love was one of the clearest takeaways because his role was obvious and his workload was real. In a preseason game, that is often more valuable than style points.
There is still uncertainty around whether the Cardinals starters will play in the remaining two preseason games against the Cowboys and Packers. So this may end up being the most meaningful early look at Love before the season gets serious. If so, Arizona has already seen enough to know the rookie is not just healthy enough to play. He is healthy enough to matter.
