With about four minutes left in the Chiefs’ 28-7 win over the Washington Commanders on “Monday Night Football,” Kansas City running back Isiah Pacheco suffered a knee injury and did return.
On the play, Commanders cornerback Trey Amos drove his shoulder into the right side of Pacheco’s leg, leaving the back slow to get up. NFL Network later reported an MCL sprain for Pacheco, calling him “week to week.”
“He’s a tough kid,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Pacheco on Wednesday. “There was a point where he wanted to go back in, and I wouldn’t let him.
“That’s how he’s wired. You’d have to cut his leg off to stop him.”
The Chiefs now face arguably their most anticipated game of the season — a late-afternoon Week 9 matchup on the road against the Buffalo Bills. And for the second year in a row, they’ll turn to Kareem Hunt as their lead back with Pacheco likely sidelined.
This time, though, there’s a key difference.
Last season, when the Chiefs signed Hunt in mid-September, he had “come off the couch,” as he and the team often described it. This year, he benefitted from a full offseason to rebuild his strength.
The result? He’s saying he feels better than he has in three or four years.
“(I’d say) he’s probably in better shape — just overall better shape,” Reid said. “Not that he was in terrible shape before, but he’s had a year to do it and get back in the swing after having a little bit of a layoff there.”
Hunt has been effective in his change-of-pace role behind Pacheco, logging 62 carries for 245 yards (4.0 per attempt) and eight receptions for 57 yards, with five total touchdowns across eight games.
