Four games, minimum
Two weeks before the Lions open their season, their new running back is done until October. Detroit placed Isiah Pacheco on injured reserve Tuesday with a back injury. The rule is the rule: four games, minimum.
Detroit hosts New Orleans on September 13.
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A summer that kept getting worse in Michigan
Look at the sequence. Pacheco strained the MCL in his knee in early August. Dan Campbell still expected him ready for Week 1. Then the back went during his return.
The Lions moved fast. They brought free agent Kareem Hunt in for a workout last week. Nothing signed yet.
So Jacob Saylors is now the backup to Jahmyr Gibbs. The 25-year-old went undrafted in 2023 out of East Tennessee State and owns exactly two NFL carries, both from last season.
Campbell backed the call Sunday. “I like the idea of having a guy who’s already in our system, I think that’s important,” he told the Detroit Free Press. “He knows our terminology, he knows our players, he knows the protections. He understands our quarterback and the way he thinks.”
$1.81 million, and nothing to show for it yet
Pacheco arrived in March to replace David Montgomery, traded to Houston that same month. One year, $1.81 million. Cheap for a back with two rings.
The resume is real. Seventh-round pick in 2022, 251st overall, four years in Kansas City, Super Bowl titles in LVII and LVIII. He has 3,091 rushing yards across 51 games with 42 starts, and 17 touchdowns. Ten playoff starts, 547 yards, four scores.
His last year with the Chiefs went sideways though: 462 rushing yards, one touchdown, 19 catches for 101 yards and a score in 13 games.
Gibbs now carries the load until at least Week 5. Pacheco, 27, spends September watching.
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