Lions running back Isiah Pacheco had back surgery, will miss significant time

Lions running back Isiah Pacheco started the season on injured reserve, and he won’t be on the field any time soon.

Pacheco had back surgery and is out for the foreseeable future, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said today.

“It’s gonna be a while. It’s gonna be a while. I really can’t — it’ll be a significant amount of time,” Campbell said of Pacheco’s recovery.

Ian Rapoport reported that Pacheco could be back in December.

The Lions could use some more depth at running back, as Jahmyr Gibbs had a huge workload on Sunday and can’t realistically be expected to get that many carries every week. The Lions’ No. 2 running back, Sione Vaki, struggled in pass protection on Sunday, and Campbell described him as “inconsistent.”

But there doesn’t appear to be any hope that Pacheco will be coming back soon to give Gibbs some relief. The backup running back situation in Detroit is still an open question.