Getty Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco runs for a first down in 2022.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a dynamic pairing at running back that has emerged over the past few weeks: Veteran Jerick McKinnon and rookie Isiah Pacheco.
The ball carriers seem to feed off each other every week and with opposite skill sets, this tag team has really worked out well for head coach Andy Reid and the offense. During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, McKinnon spoke on the bond that the two running backs share, and how he’s attempted to help the youngster grow along the way.
Chiefs’ Jerick McKinnon Passing Intangible Traits to Isiah Pacheco
“My thing with him all season is just whatever I’ve been through in my career or things that I might have had a tough time with when I was a younger guy, I just pass these things along to him,” McKinnon told Sportskeeda (via writer Robert Gullo). “So you know when that time does come for him, it’s an easy surpass. He don’t gotta go through the same things or the same struggles that I went through.”
We saw a perfect example of this against the Houston Texans. Pacheco fumbled the ball early on and McKinnon was quick to pick his teammate up on the sidelines.
“I just told him [to] keep his head up, we all human,” the veteran revealed during his postgame press conference that week. “Numerous players have fumbled on offense, I’ve fumbled on offense. My message to him was — bounce back. The great ones respond [and] I definitely think he has the ability to be great in this league.”
McKinnon added that “we all make mistakes, but the great ones respond,” and that’s what the late-round rookie has done whenever he’s been faced with a challenge in 2022.
“You’ve seen in the last so many weeks how important he is to the offense,” McKinnon voiced to Sportskeeda during the interview. “When he gets the ball in his hands it’s just gonna get real physical.”
That punishing rushing style has produced a team-leading 735 yards on the ground. A couple of big games to close out the season and Pacheco might just creep up on the 1,000-yard mark.
McKinnon — the lightning to Pacheco’s thunder — does the majority of his work in the passing game. The third-down back has 460 receiving yards in 2022, which ranks fourth on the Chiefs roster, plus six receiving touchdowns. With two games to play, McKinnon has already set a career-high in yardage in the passing game topping his 2017 campaign with the Minnesota Vikings.
Jerick McKinnon Shouts Out Chargers & Arrowhead
This Sportskeeda interview also included a few shout-outs from McKinnon.
“The Texans game was tough,” the seasoned half-back replied when asked which opponent has been the toughest challenge in 2022. “The week before vs. the [Denver] Broncos was another tough game. But I’m not gonna lie, every time we play the [Los Angeles] Chargers, that game goes down to the wire. I might have to give it to the Chargers.”
Kansas City won’t play the Chargers again this year unless the two AFC West rivals meet in the playoffs. They face the Broncos again this week, however, and that could pose a threat with a new Denver head coach at the helm.
When questioned on which stadium is the hardest place to play, McKinnon went with a more Chiefs-friendly answer.
“The toughest place of course is Arrowhead, speaks for itself,” he stated. “We got the best fans in the world. They make the away games feel like home games and they make the home games unbearable for away opponents.”
Well said Jerick, Chiefs Kingdom always travels.
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