Detroit Lions running back Isiah Pacheco has not practiced in a little more than three weeks since suffering an MCL sprain. He was not expected to miss any regular season games as of the last update we had, but on Thursday head coach Dan Campbell included the team's No. 2 running back in his run of injury updates.
Campbell said he couldn't offer anything definitive about Pacheco being available for Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints, but he did reveal a new injury.
""It's been a little touch and go right now. He's had a little bit of back (injury)", Campbell said. "We're hoping he's coming out of this as of yesterday a little bit."
But what about Pacheco's previous injury? Campbell didn't say it was fully healed when he could have, but...
"The knee is not the concern", Campbell said.
The Lions have signed or taken a look at seemingly every available running back they possibly could in recent weeks. Injuries to others besides Pacheco have fostered that situation to some degree, but running back depth has clearly been (and still is?) a concern as final roster cuts approach.
If Pacheco is not available for Week 1, Sione Vaki or Jacob Saylors would be in line to be Jahmyr Gibbs' primary backup. Recent signing Trayveon Williams or recent visitor Kareem Hunt linger as other potential options in that situation.
Isiah Pacheco has started his Lions' tenure the way his Chiefs' tenure ended
Pacheco likely wouldn't have seen much, if any, action in the Lions' first two preseason games anyway. And even if he was totally healthy, he wouldn't be suiting up for the third preseason game on Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts.
But he has missed notable practice time, training camp is now over after the final practice on Thursday and a new injury has been revealed.
When or how Pacheco's back issue first occurred is unclear, but it was not mentioned alongside the knee injury by Campbell on Aug. 10. Maybe it dates back to then, or maybe it happened in the time since as he was working his way back to the practice field.
Injuries have unfortunately become a familiar tune for Pacheco.
After a promising first two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, injuries robbed Pacheco of his effectiveness over his last two seasons there. That's the core reason the Lions were able to sign him to such an inexpensive one-year deal in March, even as his hard-charging running style spotlighted him as an ideal replacement for David Montgomery.
Read More: Why Jahmyr Gibbs should be higher in NFL Top-100 players ranking
Maybe the knee and back issues are nothing to be overly concerned with, and Pacheco will be fully ready to be the "Thunder" to Gibbs' "Lightning" when the season starts. But a second now-known injury this month is not ideal, especially given the question marks that otherwise exist behind Gibbs on the Lions running back depth chart.
Add us as a preferred source on Google