While Malachi Fields was celebrating his first NFL touchdown and helping the New York Giants add another win to what has been a surprisingly strong season, Jeremiyah Love was dealing with a far different rookie-year reality in Arizona.
The Cardinals’ latest loss only turned up the noise around how they’re handling their first-round pick. Love led the team with 63 rushing yards on 14 carries, yet he wasn’t on the field for the final offensive push that might have won the game. Instead, that drive ended when Jacoby Brissett was intercepted at the Giants’ 2-yard line, and the return went 98 yards the other way to seal it.
The part that drew the most attention was the explanation from Cardinals head coach Mike Lafleur. He said Love wasn’t in there because Arizona was in its two-minute offense and wasn’t planning to use the running back in the passing game.
That reasoning didn’t sit well with plenty of people, especially since Love is the No. 3 overall pick and, as anyone who watched him at Notre Dame knows, he’s more than capable as a receiver. He even lined up as a wideout at times in South Bend.
Love, though, has mostly tried to take the pressure off the coaching staff.
"You know, it's just the whole thing. It's been a long year for me," Love said in the locker room after the Cardinals fell to 1-3 on the season.
"Like, body sometimes is down. My body is sometimes tired.
So, like, it's just managing those things. And coaches know that.
Like, this is probably going to be the longest year of my life, you know. And I just want to manage that workload."
Some fans read his “longest year” comment as frustration with the losing or with how he’s being used. But Love’s point was simpler: he’s navigating a schedule he’s never experienced before, one that stretches beyond 17 games if the Cardinals somehow get into the playoffs.
He also made clear he wasn’t dealing with a fresh injury.
"But I didn't go out there and hurt anything or anything like that. It's just, you know, they're doing what they need to do to keep me up so that I can finish the season."
For all the criticism aimed at Arizona’s coaching staff, Love has done his best to absorb it without pointing fingers. He was the guy at Notre Dame, and he knows what it feels like to be central in the biggest moments. Even now, he’s choosing to act like the teammate first.
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The setting only adds to the intrigue, with a night kickoff in a tough road environment and the kind of stage Notre Dame has historically used to measure itself. Freemans team has handled pressure well during this run, but this one comes with the added challenge of facing another unbeaten group that has looked steady through the first month. For Notre Dame, it is the sort of game that can sharpen a playoff rsum fast, even if it leaves a few bigger questions unanswered until the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]