Jeremiyah Love’s career with the Arizona Cardinals hasn’t started off the way anyone hoped. However, the former Notre Dame star had a breakout performance this past Sunday despite the loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Despite the strong performance, Love also showed the kind of man he is when he talked about the game, taking the blame for the defeat himself.
“I left a lot out there. I feel like I could have helped the team a lot more. I mean, I just left a lot out there,” Love said in front of his locker on Sunday afternoon. “I ran as I got, I tried to take advantage of them the best way that I could. But I left a lot out there. I could have gotten a lot more yards, a lot more conversions.”
“I didn't take it full advantage of all the opportunities,” the former Notre Dame star continued. “So, kinda something I gotta reflect on, get better at next week. I increased carries, did a fairly decent job converting third downs and first downs, and did what I gotta do for the team. But gotta get better, gotta do better, and take advantage of those opportunities.”
Listening to Love talk, you’d never imagine he had 90 yards on 21 carries while catching 5 passes for 19 yards and his first career receiving touchdown. The words made it sound like he struggled in the 36-30 loss, rather than being one of the only reasons the Cardinals had any chance of pulling off an upset.
Former Notre Dame star Jeremiyah Love cements status as Cardinals workhorse after breakout performance
His humble attitude and willingness to take the blame, even when the game wasn’t his fault, is one reason Notre Dame football fans fell in love with the Heisman finalist when he did the same thing in South Bend.
Plenty has been written about just how talented Jeremiyah Love is, and there’s plenty of video showing him absolutely dominating all comers. But the young man has his head screwed on correctly as well, and that’s as big a contributor as his speed and athleticism to why the rookie is only getting more playing time as the season goes on.
Sunday’s 21 carries weren’t just the most Love got this season; they're the most carries any Cardinals running back has had so far in 2026. Before the 49ers game, the Cards were splitting rushes among the running backs almost equally.
Love’s performance was the first time there was an obvious workhorse, and given how well he played and what he said afterward, he didn’t seem like a rookie in his third career NFL game.
With 160 yards on 41 carries and 1 touchdown, he’s leading all first-year players in yards and carries so far this season. He’s got an early shot at Offensive Rookie of the Year. The former Notre Dame football star doesn’t seem to care about that, and instead is focused on the team and on how he’ll have a long and successful career after 2026.
Add us as a preferred source on Google