Jeremiyah Love’s second straight missed practice is the clearest planning problem on Arizona’s Thursday injury report. The safety situation is more complicated, with Andrew Wingard and Wydett Williams Jr. still absent and Kitan Crawford practicing in a limited capacity without yet being activated.
For the Cardinals, who meet the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, that creates two separate personnel decisions. Love’s absence is becoming a contingency the offense must organize around. The secondary has no single substitute decision waiting in the wings; it has three players at three different stages, none of which settled the Sunday lineup Thursday.
Love was listed as a nonparticipant for both Wednesday and Thursday. Coach Mike LaFleur said Wednesday that the team was taking a conservative approach with the running back, and Thursday’s report continued that approach. Friday’s game designations had not been issued, so Love was not officially ruled out.
Still, two missed practices leave Arizona less time to prepare an alternative as though he might not be available.
Tyler Allgeier has been identified in reporting as a possible replacement if Love cannot play, but the Cardinals had not announced him as the starter. That distinction matters. A possible replacement is a planning option; it is not a final personnel decision. Arizona can use Friday to make the backfield’s responsibilities concrete without pretending the practice report provides a medical prognosis.
The safety group presents a different kind of uncertainty. Wingard, dealing with a knee issue, missed both Wednesday and Thursday. Williams also sat out both days with a concussion and still faced the protocol requirements for returning. That process means he must advance far enough to be cleared for participation, but Thursday’s absence did not itself establish that he will miss the game.
Crawford is in a third category. He was limited for a second consecutive day after Arizona opened the window that allows him to practice, yet he has not been activated. If the Cardinals want him available Sunday, Saturday is the relevant deadline for that roster move.
His limited work is a sign that the question remains open, not confirmation that he will play or receive a normal workload.
That three-stage arrangement makes the defensive issue harder to solve than Love’s. Wingard needs to move from absence to participation. Williams must progress through the required steps. Crawford needs both a roster decision and enough confidence in his readiness. Those are related questions because they concern the same position group, but they are not interchangeable answers.
