The Cardinals put rookie running back Jeremiyah Love on injured reserve Tuesday with a high ankle sprain, and he must sit at least the next four games, per the Associated Press. The question for fantasy managers is whether he is worth a roster spot until he returns.

Jeremiyah Love ankle injury: what was reported

High ankle sprain, on IR: out at least four games, no earlier than Week 13.

Love left Sunday’s 33-30 overtime win in Dallas at the end of the first half after nine carries for 23 yards, per Pro Football Talk. Coach Mike LaFleur said Monday the injury was new and not a flare-up of the earlier one. He called it “a new portion of the ankle” and said it sits higher on the right ankle, per the Cardinals’ website.

The AP reports the team placed him on IR Tuesday with a high ankle sprain, and that he has dealt with problems in both ankles since the preseason. NBC Sports also lists the move. Yardbarker’s write-up puts the absence at four to five weeks. The Cardinals’ next four games are at Seattle, home against the Rams, at Kansas City and home against Washington, so Week 13 against Philadelphia on Dec. 6 is the first date he could return, per FantasyData’s schedule.

The history is long for a rookie. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported a high ankle sprain in August, per NBC Sports. Love then missed Weeks 6 and 7 with what KOLD reported as a lingering left ankle injury, and ABC15 notes he had already missed the previous two games when he got hurt again Sunday. He has 268 rushing yards and a touchdown in six games this season, per the AP.

Typical timeline for a high ankle sprain

FFD’s timeline comes from a study of high ankle (syndesmotic) injuries in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ database. It covered 33 football players over 10 years, all with an isolated syndesmotic injury. Their median return to play was 11 days and the mean was 14.8, with a range of 1 to 68 days.

Three limits apply. The study counts days, not games missed. It comes from one team. And it left out players with other injuries, so it says little about a player with Love’s ankle history. FFD’s planning range for ankle injuries is zero to three games, and the reported four-to-five-week estimate for Love sits well beyond both that range and the study’s average. The AP’s four-game floor is the earliest he can return, not a prediction of when he will. The study’s longest case ran 68 days, or nearly ten weeks.

Re-injury risk

The study did not measure recurrence, so there is no study-based re-injury rate to quote here. FFD labels ankle re-injury risk as moderate, which is a judgment call and not a figure from that paper. Love’s own record is the better guide: a high ankle sprain in August, a left ankle problem in October, and a different spot on the right ankle Sunday. The Cardinals’ trainers are on a first-name basis with both ankles. Once he is back, treat the return as fragile until he strings together full weeks of practice.

What to do with Love in fantasy

Stash him if you have an IR slot. Love ranks 20th in Doc’s Top 200, and Week 13 would put him back before most leagues’ playoffs, which often start around Week 15. Check your own league’s calendar. If you have no IR slot and your bench is thin, dropping him is defensible, but selling him cheap is not. Wait for a price near his rank or hold.

Add Tyler Allgeier now. He ranks 122nd in Doc’s Top 200 and had 147 rushing yards, 44 receiving yards and two touchdowns Sunday, playing 48 snaps (a 59% share), per the Cardinals’ website. He had the field to himself: he was the only healthy back for about a half plus overtime after Love left and Bam Knight took a hit to the head, and ABC15 confirms Knight was ruled out with a concussion. In Weeks 6 and 7, Knight ran for 128 yards on 22 carries (5.8 per carry) while Allgeier had 57 on 26 (2.2), according to The Fantasy Footballers.

Bam Knight is the handcuff to grab if he clears the concussion protocol. He also caught three of five targets in Week 7, per the same site. Evan Hull was inactive Sunday and is the third name. Allgeier is the likely lead if Knight sits, Knight has been the more efficient runner over two games, and nobody here is a lock for a full workload.

What to watch before Week 9

Love will not appear on the practice report while he is on IR, so the Cardinals’ report for Seattle week is about the replacements. Watch Knight first. A full practice by Friday points to him playing; a Did Not Participate tag through Thursday means Allgeier is the clear Week 9 lead. Hull practicing in any capacity means the team wants a third back ready. The Cardinals play at Seattle on Sunday, Nov. 8, and the first report of the week should land Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Allgeier missed practice on the Wednesday before Sunday’s game with a toe injury, per The Fantasy Footballers, and was limited Thursday and Friday in FFD’s report data. He still played 48 snaps. A new designation for him would change the plan. If Knight is out too, Allgeier would carry that load on a toe that cost him a practice.

Track the Cardinals’ practice reports all week on the FFD Injury Report.

Fantasy analysis, not medical advice.