Chiefs' Isiah Pacheco among trio not practicing Wednesday; Mike Pennel returns

Pacheco suffered a knee injury in Week 8's win over the Commanders

The Chiefs begin preparations for Sunday’s showdown against the Buffalo Bills without three offensive starters.

Coach Andy Reid said Wednesday that running back Isiah Pacheco (knee), wide receiver Hollywood Brown (illness) and rookie left tackle Josh Simmons (personal) will not practice.

“Other than that, everybody is going to give it a go,” Reid said.

The coach’s announcement means starting right guard Trey Smith, who missed Week 8 with a back injury, will be on the practice field in some capacity.

“Trey is going to give it a whirl,” Reid said. “He did the walkthrough this morning, so we’ll just see how he does.”

Mike Caliendo would be on standby if Smith can’t play against the Bills.

Meanwhile, Pacheco suffered his respective knee injuries during Monday night’s win against the Washington Commanders, and it remains unclear on his availability for Week 9.

“We’ll just see how he’s moving around, but tough kid,” Reid said.

Pacheco’s absence from practice currently leaves the Chiefs thin in the backfield, with Kareem Hunt, Elijah Mitchell and rookie Brashard Smith on the active 53-player roster.

Mitchell, who joined the Chiefs during the offseason as a free agent, has been a healthy inactive since the regular season started.

Reid, though, pointed out that Mitchell has been working back to form after suffering a season-ending hamstring injury while with the San Franciso 49ers in 2024.

“He battled back and you can see him just getting better every week during camp, and then progressing to here now,” Reid said. “He takes a lot of reps with the scout team group, so I would tell you that we all have confidence in his play ability, for sure.”

Kansas City also has Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the Chiefs’ first-round pick in 2020, on the practice squad.

Simmons remains absent from the team and hasn’t played since Week 5.

Jaylon Moore is in line to start a fourth straight game in Simmons’ place.

PENNEL BACK IN THE MIX

The Chiefs made a roster move to bolster the defensive line.

Veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennel, who was recently released by the Cincinnati Bengals, has signed after a team visit, a source familiar with the situation told KC Sports Network.

The biggest hint of the move came during Wednesday’s open locker room session, where it was observed that Pennel has a locker stall, compete with his jersey No. 69.

Pennel, 34, was a surprise roster cut when the Chiefs made multiple moves to reach the initial 53-player roster, and the move came in the wake of the Chiefs trading for defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi.

The 6-foot-4, 330-pound Pennel is a proven run-stuffing interior player, and he was a major contributor for the Chiefs in recent years. He appeared in 17 games with seven starts in 2024.

Pennel provides another veteran presence alongside Nnadi, defensive tackles Chris Jones and Jerry Tillery.

Rookie defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott (knee) was placed on injured reserve last week.