Lions Add Isiah Pacheco To Ir, Forcing The Rb To Miss At Least Four Games To Begin The Season

The Detroit Lions announced that they have added running back Isiah Pacheco to injured reserve. Pacheco will be forced to miss at least the first four games of the season.

Detroit signed the running back this offseason to a one-year deal worth $1.81 million to back up starter Jahmyr Gibbs.

The move came on the heels of the Lions trading former backfield partner David Montgomery to the Houston Texans.

Pacheco was dealing with a back injury during training camp, and it appeared to be bad enough to force him to miss the first month of the regular season.

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Pacheco began his career with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Kansas City believed in Pacheco as a rookie, and he had a breakout season. The running back played in all 17 games and finished the year with 830 yards and five touchdowns.

In 2023, Pacheco played in 14 games and improved to 935 yards and 7 touchdowns. The running back looked like a future star that the Chiefs found, but he wasn't able to sustain that production.

Over the last two seasons, the running back has played in 20 games and tallied 772 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kansas City opted to go in a different direction this offseason, letting Pacheco walk and replacing him with former Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III.

The good news for the Lions is that this injury doesn't change how they were going to approach the run game.

Detroit is still going to lean heavily on Gibbs, who finished last season with 1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns. Gibbs has been so good for Detroit over three seasons that his numbers last year were down from the year before.

The question for the Lions now becomes who will back up Gibbs, allowing the star to catch a breather during the game.

After getting through roster cuts this past weekend, the most likely player to see an increased role will be Jacob Saylors. Jabari Small and Sione Vaki could also play a role in the backfield.

Pacheco will miss Detroit's games against the New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers. He will be first eligible to return in Week 5 when the Lions face the Arizona Cardinals.