Isiah Pacheco has emerged as an integral part of the Kansas City Chiefs offense to counter-balance Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. They’ll now have to forge a path to a three-peat without the running back.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters that Pacheco, who is sidelined with a broken fibula, may miss the rest of the season.
Pacheco was originally given a six-to-eight week to return to the field, which would see him return to action around Thanksgiving.
Now, there is doubt as to whether a return will happen at all in 2024, if not, until next season.
Last year, Pacheco’s backfield contributions helped the Chiefs overcome a limited wide receiver’s room to win a second-straight Super Bowl.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid addressed the injury concerns for running back Isiah Pacheco
Pacheco will be out several weeks with a broken fibula and may not return at all this season
‘I can’t give you a time when he’ll return,’ Reid said. ‘We’ll just see if it’s this season or next season. We’ll see how he does as he goes here.’
Pacheco’s injury occurred during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Bengals. Through two games, he had 34 rush attempts this season, ninth in the NFL.
With Pacheco out of action, the Chiefs will turn to recently-signed Samaje Perine and rookie Carson Steele to carry the load.
Kansas City also recently resigned Kareem Hunt to its practice squad to bolster its depth at running back with Pacheco expected to be out for at least two months.
Hunt originally joined the Chiefs in 2017 as a rookie but was waived the following year after a video of him pushing and kicking a woman surfaced. The running back would end up in Cleveland after the Chiefs removed him from their roster.
Reid admitted seeing improvements in Hunt that made them comfortable with bringing him back on board.
‘We felt like he did that,’ Reid said. ‘He did a nice job in Cleveland and we talked to people there and there are no issues there.’
