A source from Rutgers Wire is saying Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco played in Super Bowl LVII with a broken hand, torn labrum.
According to a rumor that emerged in recent days, Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back Isiah Pacheco played through Super Bowl LVII with two significant injuries: a broken hand and a torn labrum. That makes the production displayed by Pacheco in the second half of the season even more impressive than it already was.
An unnamed “source” for writer Kristian Dyer, who reports on the USA Today network of sites, has word that Pacheco played through both injuries during the Chiefs’ close 48-45 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The source notes that the broken hand occurred in the AFC Championship two weeks prior while the labrum had been torn for “much of the season.”
In three postseason games, Pacheco put up 262 yards from scrimmage and 1 touchdown, which came in the Super Bowl, but Pacheco also put up a tremendous second half of the season for the Chiefs overall. In the final 9 games of the season, he carried the ball 126 times for 633 yards and 4 touchdowns, which resulted in a 5.04 yards/carry average.
Earlier this week, Pacheco spoke in another interview about needing to “take care of his health” and he referenced surgery in that conversation, so if these rumors are accurate, they seem to fit into the narrative already brought forth by Pacheco himself.
The Chiefs selected Pacheco in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft and he finished No. 10 overall in voting for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year despite not moving into a starting role until the second half of the season. Given that the Chiefs have largely kept the same running backs room intact, Pacheco should truly break out in 2023 with a full season of work.