Isiah Pacheco is ready for some football. The Kansas City Chiefs running back, a Day 3 selection out of Rutgers last year, has been working hard this offseason to get healthy and ready to make a bigger impact in his second NFL season.
Pacheco is coming off a dream rookie year. From being a seventh-round pick out of Rutgers to scoring a touchdown in the second quarter of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, it couldn’t have been written up any better from the running back.
Last week at Chiefs training camp, Pacheco laid out his vision ahead of the upcoming season, telling reporters he isn’t worried about the target on the team’s back as Super Bowl champions. He wants to focus on the work that is ahead of him in camp and preseason.
Week 1, he says, will take care of itself.
“For me, I’m really not worried about the teams I’m worried about one team and that’s us right now,” Pacheco told reporters last week.
“And when that first team comes, (we) take it one game at a time.”
Throughout the playoffs, Pacheco battled a shoulder injury, which was first reported by Rutgers Wire in May. Pacheco said last season’s shoulder injury is better and that he currently is “Feeling great, it’s a process.
This injury didn’t seem to slow down Pacheco very much as, in the Super Bowl, he had 15 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown in the game’s second quarter. Pacheco’s hard running was crucial to helping the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles to win the championship.
Despite the strong season in Kansas City, which included ascending to the starting running back job by midseason, Pacheco says there is more work to be done. Pushing harder and working more, he says, is part of a daily mindset.
“That’s daily For me, being unsatisfied and willing to work. There’s more to work (on),” Pacheco said.
“The unit, when they get here, I know we’re going to have a good time.”
Last season, he finished the regular season with 830 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. He also had 130 receiving yards on 13 catches.
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Getting involved more in the passing offense and getting more catches from Patrick Mahomes, he said, is a big part of his work these early days of training camp.
“I’m just this finding those extra catches after practice and just getting my hands prepared for when Pat decides to throw it – I’m saying I’m ready,” Pacheco said.
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