Jahmyr Gibbs shouldered the biggest workload of his career in the Detroit Lions' season-opening win over the New Orleans Saints, and he won't be getting help from the Lions' presumed No. 2 running back anytime soon.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday, Sept. 14, that running back Isiah Pacheco underwent back surgery and will miss "a significant amount of time."
NFL Network reported the surgery was to remove a body that was pressing on a nerve in his back and Pacheco will be out 12 weeks.
"It’s going to be a while," Campbell said. "Yeah, it’s going to be a while."
The Lions signed Pacheco to a 1-year deal this offseason to be their power back behind Gibbs.
Pacheco missed
most of training camp with a sprained MCL, and injured his back while recovering from his knee injury.
Gibbs had a career-high 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions to a 31-30 overtime win over the Saints on Sunday, Sept. 13. He also caught five passes for 30 yards and had four more carries nullified by penalty.
Sione Vaki played 22 snaps as the Lions' No. 2 back Sunday and finished with two carries for 7 yards and one catch for 11 yards. Vaki played spelled Gibbs on some third-down snaps in pass protection and drew mixed reviews for the most extensive offensive action he has seen as a pro.
"Look, he was inconsistent," Campbell said. "There was a couple of things in there that he’s got to be better at. And I know the one that everybody’s’ talking about. That was – can’t do that, he knows that, and we got to get them cleaned up. And so it was inconsistent, but he did have some reps in there that were good. He had a couple of carries I thought were pretty good and he got a ball on a checkdown that wasn’t bad. And so we just got to tighten this stuff up with him a little bit, cause we’re going to need to be able use him. I mean, that’s the bottom line."
Campbell said Jacob Saylors also could see time at running back in this week's game against the Buffalo Bills after not playing an offensive snap against the Saints.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Isiah Pacheco injury update, as Lions RB out 'a while' after surgery
