Chiefs news: Isiah Pacheco will 'miss real time' with fractured fibula

The Kansas City Chiefs left Arrowhead as victors on Sunday night, with an important regular-season win over the Cincinnati Bengals in their pockets. But the mood wasn't as festive as it could have been, knowing the level of concern about Isiah Pacheco's status.

As it turns out, Pacheco is going to miss some significant time with a broken leg. Specifically, NFL reporter Ian Rapoport says Pacheco has fractured his fibula and will "miss real time."

For those who missed the game, Pacheco went down late in the game with an lower-leg injury that looked rather painful. He was taken out of the game, but all Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said afterward to reporters was that he would undergo further tests to find out more.

Pacheco went down with an ankle injury late in the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 2 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Following the game, it was pretty easy to assume that Pacheco was headed toward some missed games.

Rapoport spoke a bit more about the injury on Good Morning, Football:

"It was kind of the fear leaving the stadium. He was in a walking boot. He was in crutches. Anytime they're going to take a look at the bone, usually that's not good. This is why. Initial tests showed a fractured fibula.

"It's my understanding that he's going to have more tests today to determine if there is associated damage, that is if there's damage to the ligaments, what needs to happen next, and how long he's going to be out. But as a fracture, those are generally four, six weeks, maybe eight weeks. Don't be surprised if Pacheco is placed on injured reserve."

The loss of Pacheco is a major blow to a Chiefs offense that just featured him front-and-center against the Cincinnati Bengals. Pacheco already has 189 yards from scrimmage in two games and led the offensive game plan against Cincy in a tough win at home in Week 2.

It's not as if the running back position was already overflowing with dependable talent. The Chiefs rode the Carson Steele rollercoaster on Sunday and watched both a fumble with positive gains from their rookie fullback. Clyde Edwards-Helaire is already out of commission as well, so now the issues of depth that were already there become much more pronounced.

As for Pacheco, this also muddies the water for his future knowing that he's had multiple injury concerns in a relatively short career. His violent rushing style makes him exciting to watch and it certainly gets the desired results, but questions now have to be asked about long-term reliability at the position going forward.

Pacheco was a seventh-round pick out of Rutgers back in the 2022 NFL Draft and has been the teams lead back ever since. He led the Chiefs last season with 935 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns.