KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have three starting running backs. Or, at least they see it that way.
Rookie running back Isiah Pacheco started for the third straight game in week 10, gaining 82 yards on 16 carries in the Chiefs’ (7-2) win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7).
“He's been amazing,” Jerick McKinnon said of Pacheco’s growth in 2022. “It's a (credit) to the type of player he is, the type of person he is, how he works...all that stuff."
McKinnon himself carried a hefty workload in the Chiefs' passing game, snagging six of eight targets for 56 total yards.
Committee-mate Clyde Edwards-Helaire seemed the ‘odd man out,’ recording zero carries and catching none of two targets in the 27-17 win.
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“It's different when you're back by committee than a starter,” McKinnon said of the timeshare during a Monday zoom with local reporters. “But number one, you have to approach every game as if you're the starter. That's just got to be your mindset."
Head coach Andy Reid eschewed any notion of KC intentionally benching CEH, saying the game plan dictated the final workloads.
After three straight starts for Pacheco and decreased involvement in the run game for Edwards-Helaire and McKinnon, the rookie has become the Chiefs’ assumed starter at the position.
“Everybody's happy to see him have some success,” McKinnon said. “As a collective unit, we're pushing each other to be better."
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