The Cardinals’ Week 6 injury report brought the kind of news Arizona didn’t want to see: rookie running back Jeremiyah Love was held out of practice again Thursday as his ankle issue lingered.
That makes it two straight missed days for Love, and it leaves his status for Sunday’s matchup at SoFi Stadium very much up in the air. Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur is expected to address the situation Friday morning, and he has already made it clear he wants to give Love’s ankle time to settle down.
Love wasn’t the only Arizona player to miss another day. Wingard was also out for a second straight practice because of knee trouble.
Elsewhere on the Cardinals’ report, Baker, Sweat and Seumalo all returned after resting yesterday. Outside of those updates, Arizona’s injury list stayed the same.
The Rams’ first real practice of the week, meanwhile, brought a few changes after Wednesday’s report was only an estimate because of Monday Night Football. Trost and Curl were added to Los Angeles’ injury report Thursday, while Bachman moved up from limited participation on Wednesday.
Before the week’s practices began, Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett gave a blunt assessment of the Rams defense and the challenge in front of Arizona.
“Everything-- from top to bottom. They are only getting better each week," he said.
"They’re obviously ascending, and bringing (Rams DE) Aaron Donald back didn’t do us any justice, but we have to go out there and do our job. We look forward to this challenge coming into this week and I think we’ll be ready.”
In Other News...
Cardinals Defense Reaches Breaking Point Before Rams Showdown
The opening month has been rough enough for Arizona that the defense is now the loudest issue hanging over the team heading into a Rams matchup. At 1-4, the Cardinals are sitting near the bottom of the league in both points allowed and yards allowed, and the problems have gone beyond one bad half or a couple of busted assignments. Big plays have piled up, touchdowns have followed, and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis has already acknowledged the need to adjust.
Rallis has been open about the fact that something may need to change if this group is going to stabilize. For a defense that has spent much of the season chasing games instead of controlling them, the challenge now is finding a fix fast enough to matter before the schedule puts even more pressure on a unit that has already absorbed plenty of it. [Read more 🡒]
Trey McBride Is Sending Cardinals Fans A Risky Message
Trey McBride has already spent enough time around losing to understand how quickly patience can wear thin, but the Cardinals tight end is still framing his situation in a way that should resonate with fans who are tired of waiting for a breakthrough. Between difficult stretches in college and the NFL, McBride has seen what it looks like when good intentions do not immediately turn into wins, yet he continues to talk and act like a player invested in Arizonas long view rather than a short-term escape.
That matters for a roster and fan base that have heard plenty of talk about progress without enough results to match it. McBride is clearly aware of the frustration, but his commitment to being part of whatever comes next gives the Cardinals a little more credibility than empty optimism usually does. The tension now is whether his belief in the teams direction is enough to hold up if the losses keep coming. [Read more 🡒]
Marvin Harrison Jr. Now Faces The Arizona Question Fans Never Settled
Marvin Harrison Jr.s path has taken another sharp turn, and it sends him right back to a familiar name from his past. After an uneven start to his NFL career, the former Cardinals wide receiver is moving on to a setting where the expectations are different and the connection is already established, thanks to the long college partnership that once made him one of the most polished pass-catchers in the game.
C.J. Stroud is the center of that reunion, which gives Houston a chance to tap into the chemistry the two showed at Ohio State. Strouds rise since then has only added to the intrigue, and the Texans are clearly betting that Harrison can find the version of himself that looked so natural alongside him before the league brought new challenges. For Arizona, it is another reminder of how quickly a draft dream can turn into a question of fit. [Read more 🡒]