Chiefs' Isiah Pacheco set to return to action in Week 13
Pacheco has missed three games with a knee injury
The Chiefs are on track to have a key piece of the offense back in the mix for Week 13.
Running back Isiah Pacheco, who has missed three games with a knee injury, is expected to return to action against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
“We’ll get him in there and he’ll play,” coach Andy Reid said Tuesday. “How much? I can’t tell you that right now. We’ll see how it goes.”
While his playing time remains to be seen, Pacheco’s presence will provide a boost.
The Chiefs turned to Elijah Mitchell and elevated Clyde Edwards-Helaire from the practice squad in recent games to bolster depth behind Kareem Hunt during Pacheco’s absence.
Mitchell and Edwards-Helaire, however, didn’t do much with the opportunity.
Hunt absorbed the featured role over the past three games and turned in a stellar performance with 30 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown in Week 12’s win against the Indianapolis Colts. Hunt’s 30 carries represented the most attempts by a running back for the Chiefs since Knile Davis recorded 32 carries in 2014.
With Pacheco on track to return, it is reasonable to expect the Chiefs to return to a time-share between Pacheco and Hunt.
Pacheco has appeared in eight games – all starts – this season, totaling 78 yards for 329 yards and a touchdown, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. He’s added 11 catches for 43 yards and a touchdown on 17 targets.
In other injury news, Reid said right guard Trey Smith (ankle) and tight end Noah Gray (concussion) will not practice Tuesday.
“We’ll just see how they progress here in the next day or so,” Reid said.
Nevertheless, it wouldn’t surprise if Smith and Gray aren’t suited up against the Cowboys when considering the short turnaround this week.
Smith and Gray suffered their respective injuries just two days ago and neither player finished the game against the Colts.
Backup guard Mike Caliendo would start in place of Smith if needed, while the Chiefs are likely to rely more on tight end Robert Tonyan alongside Travis Kelce if Gray is unavailable.
ROSTER MOVE
The Chiefs made a move on Monday to bolster the running back position by signing Dameon Pierce to the practice squad.
Any impact, however, will need to wait until Pierce is acclimated to the Chiefs’ way of doing things
“That’s the main thing right now – just get in and learn what we’re doing, and we’ll take it from there,” Reid said. “He’s been productive, so good player.
“(General manager) Brett (Veach) is always doing a nice job of finding guys and adding them to the roster, so we’ll just see – kind of play it by ear – see how it goes here.”
The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Pierce originally entered the NFL in 2022 out of Florida as a fourth-round pick with the Houston Texans before the Texans released him last week.
He has appeared in 42 career games with 20 starts, totaling 1,674 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on 415 carries. He also has 45 career catches for 268 yards and a touchdown.