By all standards, it has been a strong rookie season for Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco. The seventh-round pick out of Rutgers has made an impression and an impact for the Chiefs, from special teams to starting the last three games in the backfield.
And perhaps as impressive as his strong performances this season has been Pacheco’s mindset. When things don’t go right, the former All-Big Ten running back hasn’t hung his head.
When Pacheco fumbled in last week’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, his first NFL fumble, Pacheco felt the sting of the moment. But he told reporters this week that he didn’t let the moment linger.
“With me, during the moment, I was thinking, ‘I let my teammates down’ but during the same time I tried to go get the guy with the ball,” Pacheco said on Thursday.
“For me, right there, the finishing (with) strain showed that I care and when I came back to the sideline, I didn’t hold my head down because I knew that I had a strong feeling in my heart that I was angry enough to go back out there and execute my job to a high level.”
Pacheco would finish that game with a career-high 16 carries for 82 yards as the Chiefs beat the Jaguars 27-17.
(To keep up with Isiah Pacheco and his rookie season with the Kansas City Chiefs, make sure to check out Chiefs Wire and follow reporter Charles Goldman on Twitter.)
So far this season, Pacheco has 292 rushing yards on 60 carries with a touchdown for the Chiefs.
After his fumble, the Chiefs coaching staff and his teammates lifted him up and encouraged him on the sidelines, a message he said that he felt deeply. It also showed the confidence that the team has in the rookie to be an important part of the offense moving forward.
“For me, it just showed me that I can be something in this offense and for me to just continue to just put in that work and work on my pad level so in the games that doesn’t happen,” Pacheco said.
Scroll down and check out these photos from Isiah Pacheco’s rookie season with the Kansas City Chiefs!
[mm-video type=video id=01gj5tzdj7y3zpeg5am9 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gj5tzdj7y3zpeg5am9/01gj5tzdj7y3zpeg5am9-978f57d63df5c78565eef0e646c85b14.jpg]