Arrowhead Pride
Head coach Andy Reid spoke about both players during his Wednesday morning press conference.
Amidst a season plagued by injury, the Kansas City Chiefs announced that they would conduct a fully-attended practice on Wednesday ahead of their Sunday matchup against the Carolina Panthers. The Chiefs are coming off their first loss of the season — a 30-21 setback at the hands of the Buffalo Bills.
For the second consecutive week, both running back Isiah Pacheco and defensive lineman Charles Omenihu are expected to work.
“We’ll see on both those two,” said head coach Andy Reid. “[We’ll] kind of go through the practice [and] see where we’re at this week and go from there. We’ll just have to say — a day-by-day-type thing.”
Pacheco and Omenihu took the field last week, beginning their 21-day windows in which they can practice without being added to the 53-man roster. Both players handled scout team reps to get them back in the mix. At the time of this writing, Pacheco remains on the Reserve/Injured list, and Omenihu is still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is eager to see Pacheco return to the lineup.
“It’s going to be us trying to hold him back,” said Mahomes of Pacheco, “because he’s a guy that wants to be out there as much as possible and he wants to play. At the same time, he wants to win, and he knows the long-term goal that we have, and our goal is to get him back as quickly as possible but at the best time for him and his body so that we can have him for the long haul. Whenever that is, I know he’ll be ready and he’ll be that energizer bunny everybody loves to say.”
Pacheco played in just two games this season before fracturing his fibula. In that small sample size, the running back looked explosive, carrying the ball 34 times for 135 yards and a touchdown while adding seven catches for 54 yards through the air.
The injury prompted the Chiefs to look outside the building for his replacement, which wound up being a familiar face: Kareem Hunt. In Pacheco’s absence over seven games, Hunt has averaged nearly 20 carries a game, accumulating 625 scrimmage yards and five total touchdowns.
In a press conference last week, Hunt spoke about a potential 1-2 punch when Pacheco was deemed ready to go.
“We’ll find a way,” laughed Reid. “Both of them are good players, so we’ll find a way to get both of them in if and when that takes place. That’s a good problem to have.”
Both Pacheco and Omenihu were listed as limited participants in Week 11’s injury report before being ruled out of the game. The Chiefs’ first Week 12 injury report — expected Wednesday afternoon — should shed some light on their chances of returning against the Panthers.
