After leaving with an injury late in the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals, running back Isiah Pacheco is now set to miss significant time as he recovers from an ankle
injury.With reports indicating that the Kansas City Chiefs will likely be without running back Isiah Pacheco for “real time” with a fractured fibula, head coach Andy Reid discussed what he knows about Pacheco’s timeline to return and the state of the Chiefs’ running back room during Pacheco’s absence.
“I don’t have a timeframe on Pacheco,” Reid said. “I know it won’t be this week, and it’ll probably be more than that, obviously. It’s going to take a little bit of time there.”
While the Chiefs plan for the upcoming weeks, Reid said that general manager Brett Veach is looking at options from outside the organization, though the team will begin with their in-house options.
“As far as Pacheco goes, we’ll go with the guys that we have here now,” Reid said. “Veach is kind of going through his list and looking at people, and we’ll just see where that goes. But we’re blessed to have some good people here.”
Later in his Monday media availability, Reid was asked about Pacheco’s mindset and attitude as he looks ahead to a potential long road back to the field.
“Well, he’s been with the doctor, so I haven’t seen him today,” Reid said. “But I talked to him twice yesterday, last night. I think he’s in a better place. That’s tough. I was talking to some kids that came over to our house after the game and I said, ‘You know how sometimes you guys get emotional after you lose a game? You don’t ever want to lose that.’ Here’s a guy that loves to play the game, so he had tears. He was emotional. But you don’t ever want to lose it. It’s an emotional sport. That kid, nobody likes to play more than he likes to play. You’re going to see that, and that’s what so great about this sport here.”
Aside from Pacheco, the Chiefs’ only two other running backs on the 53-man roster are veteran Samaje Perine and undrafted rookie Carson Steele. The team also has two backs on the practice squad: undrafted rookie Emani Bailey and 24-year-old Keaontay Ingram. Former first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire is on the NFI list through at least the first four weeks of the season.
With Pacheco likely sidelined for the coming weeks, Reid was asked if he believes any of KC’s other backs could step up to take on No. 10’s workload.
“Well, one of the backs, I haven’t had an opportunity to give it to him that much,” Reid began. “Or, a couple of them. Well, really, all three of them, if you look at that, so I would tell you I have confidence in them, I just haven’t experienced it with them.”
During a strong preseason, Steele climbed the depth chart to secure an active roster spot. Even after a fumble on Sunday, could he be in the mix to take on a significantly larger workload while Pacheco is out?
“Yeah, he’s going to have to step it up there in that role,” Reid said. “But I think he likes to be challenged, and I think this will be a good challenge for him. He’s obviously got to keep the ball high and tight, he had the fumble yesterday, he doesn’t have a history of that, so he’s got to make sure he learns from that.”
Asked about Edwards-Helaire’s status and his fit in the running back room, Reid said Edwards-Helaire could be in the mix, though he won’t be able to return for at least two more weeks.
“Yeah, that’s part of the equation,” Reid said. “So, we’ve got to just figure all of that out and see how all that fits in. We know he’s around, we just don’t have him available here for a couple more weeks here.”
