Kansas City Chiefs Playmakers Isiah Pacheco And Kadarius Toney Nearing Return

In Super Bowl LVII, two offensive weapons helped lead the Kansas City Chiefs to victory.

Running back Isiah Pacheco led all players with 76 rushing yards, and wide receiver Kadarius Toney scored a touchdown and had the longest punt return in Super Bowl history.

So far, neither has been a full go for any contact in a preseason practice — let alone played in a preseason game.

That may be about to change.

When asked on Monday if there was any chance Toney would come back to practice soon, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid answered cryptically.

“Uh, we’ll see,” he said with a slight grin. “Probably not tomorrow.”

The fact that Reid didn’t rule out an imminent return is positive news for Toney, who tore his meniscus during a punt return on the first day of training camp on July 23 and then underwent arthroscopic knee surgery.

It also means his surgery just removed the torn part of the meniscus instead of repairing it.

According to a noted orthopedic surgeon, repairing it would be better to prevent potential long-term arthritis to the knee but would have kept him out for about 12 weeks.

Just cutting the torn meniscus allows a return to action in four-to-10 weeks.

Pacheco also underwent surgery this offseason. More accurately, he had two.

One was to fix a broken bone located between the wrist and thumb in his hand, and the other was to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder.

Following an intense offseason of rehab, Pacheco — unlike Toney — has been practicing at training camp.

But on Monday for the first time, he was no longer wearing the yellow jersey worn by quarterbacks and injured players, indicating no contact allowed.

“That’s a positive step,” Reid said.

Though the Chiefs starters are not expected to play against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday as part of their final preseason game, Reid left the door open for Pacheco.

“There’s a chance, yeah,” Reid said. “He’s got to be cleared and all that.”

If either Pacheco or Toney bounce back from injuries this year, it will represent great value for the Chiefs.

The 24-year-old Pacheco is entering his second year, and the 24-year-old Toney is entering his third, meaning both are still on their rookie deals.

Pacheco is due to cost just $889,777 against the salary cap, and Toney is due to cost $1,907,228.

That translates to just 0.9% of the cap for Toney and 0.4% for Pacheco.

It’s staggering to think that Toney — perhaps the Chiefs’ most dangerous player after the catch — and Pacheco, who led the team in rushing with 830 yards despite only starting 11 games, could be so affordable.

Both burst on the scene late last season.

Pacheco didn’t become the starting running back until Week Seven when the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 44-23 on Oct. 23.

Just days later the Chiefs acquired Toney from the New York Giants for 2023 third- and sixth-round picks.

With another year in the Chiefs offense, both could be poised for banner years.

But first they must to return to action, an occurrence that now seems more likely to happen sooner rather than later.