Latest Josh Simmons Update Puts Chiefs in a Precarious Position for Week 1 vs. Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs are just days away from opening their 2026 regular-season slate against the Denver Broncos, and head coach Andy Reid's crew is quickly trying to get back to 100% for it.

Aside from quarterback Patrick Mahomes' availability, the progress of left tackle Josh Simmons has been the storyline to watch in Kansas City. The 2025 first-round pick has now missed weeks of practice due to a lingering back injury, bringing his Week 1 status into question.

With less than a week to go until kickoff on Monday Night Football, is the star pass protector tracking to participate? Reid's Tuesday update indicated that there's some more work to do before Simmons can play.

"As far as Josh Simmons goes, I know that's another question people have," Reid said. "We'll just see where that goes. If he's not able to go, then we'll be in with Kahlil (Benson) at that spot, and we'll roll from there. Obviously, we try to play the five best guys, so we make the decision on that.

"Again, Josh is rehabbing. He's working his tail off. This isn't anything other than him having an issue with his back, and it's just a matter of time here. He continues to work hard with (vice president of sports medicine and performance) Rick (Burkholder) and do his part there."

When asked a follow-up, Reid doubled down on the daunting outlook for Simmons. There's no hard and fast rule regarding practice involvement before being cleared, but Reid has typically preferred players get back in the swing of things for some work before jumping back into a game. That has yet to be the case with Simmons.

Simmons may be getting closer to a return to the lineup, but signs point to that being in Week 2 or later.

"Yeah, I mean, listen, there's a good chance Josh doesn't play this week," Reid said. "That's where we're at. We have that in our mind. He has an issue there that he's working through, and I'm not putting any time restraint on when he can come back or when he could practice and how many practices he needs and all that. I just want to make sure he's healthy and OK to go. Other than that, we move forward. That's what we do."

As far as a short-term replacement plan is concerned, many would point to veteran Jaylon Moore moving back to left tackle. Elsewhere, Kansas City acquired Joshua Ezeudu and Diego Pounds in the month of August from the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens, respectively, and both could step in for Simmons.

Despite that, it could be the Kahlil Benson show once again after the undrafted rookie free agent logged practice reps at the position.

"Yeah, we'll see where all that goes; I'm not telling you that," Reid said. "But we're comfortable with Kahlil on either side. I mean, he's been playing the left side, so we feel comfortable with that. We'll see. We'll end up playing the five best guys, and right now, he's one of them."

Benson spent the majority of his preseason reps on the right side of the line and is traditionally trained there, so it'll be interesting to see whether Reid sticks to his plan. The short-term uncertainty of Simmons' status doesn't help, although sorting through the head coach's message does lead to a pretty clear conclusion.

Barring something unforeseen, the Chiefs will likely kick off a new campaign with a new starting left tackle.

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