In the aftermath of their most embarrassing performance of the 2026 season by an insanely wide margin, the Kansas City Chiefs have bigger fish to fry than engaging in hypotheticals regarding those who aren't even on the active 53-man roster.
Given the lack of consistency or clarity with one particular player, however, it was only a matter of time before head coach Andy Reid was asked about left tackle Josh Simmons once again.
Just days removed from Kansas City placing the 2025 first-round pick on IR, a national report from ESPN revealed that Simmons had a back-and-forth with Reid on Wednesday and was asked by him to leave a team meeting. Did that incident have anything to do with the transaction the following day?
Speaking to the media after a 20-3 loss on Sunday Night Football to the Seattle Seahawks, Reid shot down any correlation between the two.
"Listen, Sam (McDowell), I've said so much on him," Reid said of Simmons. "Rick (Burkholder) has talked about him, this and that. Things happen. That's no reason that he was put on IR. He's got a bad back. He's got to get that worked out, and that's the main thing. I'll leave it at that, and that's where we're at with it."
According to the aforementioned report, Simmons was called out for having his feet up while sitting during the meeting and told Reid it was because of an aching back and hips. Upon being directed to seek treatment if he was indeed in pain, the former Ohio State star allegedly "disrupted the meeting" and even led to quarterback Patrick Mahomes to urge Simmons to step out as well.
Burkholder, vice president of sports medicine and performance, provided a statement to lead off Thursday's media availability and described Simmons' Wednesday absence from practice as something that allowed him to "get with his people" and decide next injury-related steps. After all, the second-year man is attempting to recover from a bulging disc in his back that's bothered him since mid-August.
With the Seattle game in the books, Simmons will miss at least the club's next three contests against the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports that the team holds out hope for Simmons eventually hitting the ground running again with the "right attitude and healthy, ready to go" for the stretch run of the season.
Reid appears to share that same end goal. Even if it's been an awkward week on the Simmons front, the leader of the team reiterates that the focus remains solely on the back injury and subsequent recovery.
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