Information Sourced From: Detroit Lions on X
The Lions announced this afternoon (on their official X account) that Isiah Pacheco has been placed on injured reserve. Pachecho had been recovering from a sprained PCL, and then started having issues with his back. Dan Campbell didn’t seem to think it was long term, and so until I hear otherwise I will consider it short term, meaning he can return in week 5. While this is certainly a let down for certain fans who were hoping to see that dominant power piece of the Lions running game at least replaced by Pacheco, it makes a whole lot of sense in the context of the rest of the Detroit Lions final 53 man roster.
Initially the Lions kept 5 running backs, to the surprise of pretty much everyone in the Lions community, Lions reporters, and anyone I talked to. However, now that Pachecho has needed to be moved to IR, and Tyler Conklin has returned, things make a bit more sense. Conklin (while his play may have been a bit flat) adds additional needed depth at TE given how critical it is to the Lions offense. Furthermore 4 running backs is much more in line with what I think most people may have thought.
Final Note: It would not surprise me to see Kareem Hunt come back after his previously reported visit, and perhaps even sign with the team to provide that power element.