Head coach Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs turned to a familiar face to stabilize the backfield after running back Isaiah Pacheco was injured Sunday afternoon against the Cincinnati Bengals, signing veteran Kareem Hunt to the practice squad.
Hunt, 34, spent the past four seasons with the Cleveland Browns, including rushing for a career-high nine touchdowns last season.
Even though the Chiefs already had veteran Samaje Perine and rookie Carson Steele on the roster, there is optimism that Hunt can make an immediate impact one of the most balanced and prolific offenses in the league.
Andy Reid Not Rushing Kareem Hunt Into Marquee Role
Reid tried to tamper down those expectations in his first comments since Kansas City signed Hunt.
“We’ll get him in here and get some work, kind of get him back in the swing of playing and then we’ll just see,” Reid told reporters this week. “As the game gets closer, we’ll see how things go there and so on, but we’ll try to get him in a position where he’s ready to play either this week, next week, or the following week.”
Hunt spent the first two seasons of his career in Kansas City, and has rushed for 4,436 yards with 40 touchdowns, while posting a career- 4.3 yards per carry average.
“It’s really what we told him and [said] publicly, we just thought he needed a change of scenery and to get some help and take care of business there,” Reid said. “And we felt like he did that. He did a nice job in Cleveland and we talked to the people there and there were no issues there, so we felt OK about bringing him back. He’s 29 years old now, so time flies, but he’s 29 years old. It looks like he’s grown up some.”
