Chiefs Plan to Designate 2 Key Players to Return from IR in Week 11: Report

Getty Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco.

The Kansas City Chiefs are planning to designate running back Isiah Pacheco and defensive end Charles Omenihu to return from injured reserve this week, according to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz on November 12.

Pacheco has been absent from the lineup since Week 2 with a broken fibula. Omenihu suffered a torn ACL during Kansas City’s postseason run in January and has been rigorously rehabbing so he can get back on the field this season.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said during his November 11 press conference that both Pacheco and Omenihu are nearing a return, though he didn’t get into specifics as to when they would be designated to return from IR.

“Listen, I think they’re (Charles Omenihu, Isiah Pacheco and JuJu Smith-Schuster) all close,” Reid said. “I’d probably tell you JuJu’s closer than the other two, but I would tell you that — we might have them out there (at practice), we’ll just see how it goes here today and tomorrow. They’re very close, all three of them.”

Chiefs Have Given Kareem Hunt a Heavy Workload

Veteran Kareem Hunt, who signed with the Chiefs on September 17, has been Kansas City’s primary rusher since Pacheco went down. In the six games Hunt has played in, he has accumulated a total of 449 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 125 rushing attempts. That’s an average of 20.8 rushing attempts per game, which is a historically large workload for a 29-year-old back who was signed midseason.

Though Hunt has averaged just 3.6 yards per carry, his familiarity with the system and reliability as a ball carrier (zero fumbles this season) was a welcomed midseason addition. He has helped the team remain undefeated despite Kansas City suffering several key injuries on offense this season.

X Users React to Isiah Pacheco, Charles Omenihu Injury Update

Users on X, formerly Twitter, reacted to Schultz’s update on Pacheco and Omenihu.

“Huge for the Chiefs as they attempt a 3-peat,” one person wrote. “Hunt and Pacheco backfield should be really good. Expecting a lot of points from them and a team that should be humming even more.”

“Adding both of these guys back is big,” another person wrote. “Pacheco can add more juice to the run game, which helps… But Omenihu, if he can be in the swing of things down the stretch, would be absolutely enormous for a pass rush that doesn’t win enough 1×1 (still) outside of Jones to be high level.”

“It’s over for the NFL! They let the Chiefs get to 9-0 with the injuries they’ve had, now they’re getting reinforcements back on both sides of the ball,” another person wrote. “Good luck trying to stop them now!”

“Wow. I didn’t think Omenihu would be activated until December,” Daniel Harms of the Draft Network wrote. “This is great news and allows the Chiefs to bring him along slowly and get him into game shape for playoff time. Kareem Hunt is going to be singing in the locker room today.”

“I’m sorry, Pop & Charles?!?!? Can this day get any better?! Can we get them both in by Sunday for the Bills?! That changes everything if so. It would surprise me if we do but… omg,” another person wrote.