The Kansas City Chiefs secured a narrow win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 13 and needed all the help they could get on Black Friday. This also included two reinforcements joining the team after a long absence. On offense, running back Isiah Pacheco made an immediate impact in his first game since breaking his fibula in Week 2.

It’s the longest Pacheco, a third-year veteran, has missed at the professional level due to injury. Speaking to the media after Friday’s win, he talked about how difficult it was to sit out and rehab while everyone else was preparing for the game.

“It was a challenge,” Pacheco said. “There are days when you come in and don’t want to work. You could try as hard as you can and you could get distracted. There are people who walk in and out of the facility healthy, but you.” As a player, you have to focus on what you need to do to get better day by day and avoid distractions. I wanted to get in the hot tub and do those extra things, but right now I had to focus on what I had planned and then do the extra things in my free time.

Kansas City went 9-1 in Pacheco’s absence, and their success in the backcourt was built on a reunion with the club’s former 2017 draft pick Kareem Hunt. Although Hunt was unspectacular and lacked explosive runs, he eliminated negative attempts and carried the load outside with his teammate. Pacheco praised Hunt on Friday and also explained how he got the most out of mental reps in his free time.

“Yeah, hats off to him for stepping up,” Pacheco said. “It was a tough run. He was great at running the room. Everyone followed the leaders. The most important thing for me was just hammering out the details in the meeting room so I had the opportunity to come out and show my skills. “Focus on the details: the chips, the check-downs, just the little things that would make my game a little better today.”

This return has been a long time coming for Pacheco after he was placed on the injured reserve list back in September. Before getting injured, he recorded 15 carries for 45 yards and 19 carries for 90 yards – a 4.74 yard average – in the aforementioned win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. In his first game back, the former seventh-rounder led the way at running back with seven runs, collecting 44 yards. His 6.3 yards per carry average was heavily influenced by an impressive 34-yard block in the third quarter.

All in all, it was a good mix of short-yardage opportunities and even a reception for Pacheco in his reintroduction. With plenty of time for him to fully adjust, the Chiefs will have one big problem: balancing the workload between him and Hunt.

In the meantime, Pacheco is just happy to be back in the lineup and dishing out violence.

“It felt great to have that moment again, to reconnect,” Pacheco said. “I missed that. My anger supported me, so it was a blessing to be able to let that anger out on the field.”

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