The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night at Arrowhead without elite left tackle Josh Simmons. Due to injury, he missed the final preseason game and the season opener. We know he’s dealing with a back issue, but we don’t know when he’ll return. Yet for some, that’s not good enough, and I question why anyone feels that way.
I’m no medical expert, but I’ve had back issues, and it’s both painful and can be life-altering. As a six-decade Chiefs fan, I’ve had my share of flare-ups. Outside of a bad car accident thirty years ago that inverted my neck and took six months of rehab to recover, most of my current pain can be helped with acupuncture and exercise, but that’s to troll around my world as a normal person, not an elite athlete.
When the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons at the end of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Kingdom erupted in excitement. Finally, they had a left tackle who could be this generation’s Willie Roaf.
In my view, Roaf was the best left tackle in Chiefs’ history. He was a mauler, fast, and disruptive on the offensive line. He could pancake any defender, and if he hit you once, he might do it again just for the fun of it. That’s why he’s in the NFL Hall of Fame.
However, Roaf couldn’t practice during the week because his body took such a beating that his recovery time was generally from the end of the game Sunday to the start of the following Sunday. He spent the week in the training room, rested his body and participated only in the team’s final walk-through each Friday.
Once in the locker room, I timed his walk from the trainers’ table to his locker, which was roughly thirty feet away. It took him nearly a minute to sit in front of his locker. His pace was like a turtle crossing the street. Honestly, it was painful to watch and sad.
Then Head Coach Herm Edwards told me he marveled that he could dominate the line of scrimmage on game days. He had an innate purpose on the football field that made his body forget the week’s pain, making him one of the fleetest of foot and most powerful offensive linemen in the game’s history. Yet, not every athlete can internalize those pain blockers.
Josh Simmons has all the traits to be an All-Pro left tackle for the next decade. He’s leaner than Roaf but as agile and quick at the line of scrimmage. His path to building his body was different from Roaf’s. The former Chiefs used his girth to fend off pass rushers and plow the road in the run game. Simmons used his lower-body leverage, long arms, and upper-body strength to battle defenders each week.
Early last season, he left the team in what could be described as a move that stunned everyone, including the Chiefs, who were blindsided by the departure. The team scrambled to adjust and told the media it was personal, and veteran Jaylon Moore stepped into the starter spot.
In his absence, that began after the Jaguars loss in 2025; the Chiefs did their best to manage the narrative, but in the end, it was a personal matter that Simmons addressed publicly upon his return a month later. As the process unfolded, people began digging into his time at Ohio State and why he chose to pull out of his commitment to Oregon to stay closer to home and play for San Diego State.
Duck fans were furious, but it showed that being close to family outweighed playing football in the Great Northwest for a national power. We should never fault an athlete who chooses to stay close to those who raised them, nor should we question that person who is the centerpiece of his family to make that decision where to play college football.
In his final year at Ohio State, Simmons ruptured his patellar tendon in October, left the field on a cart, and that ended his career for the Buckeyes. Despite being on track for a National Title, Simmons chose to undergo surgery and begin the long, grueling rehab process to be ready for the 2025 NFL Draft elsewhere and not at the university. That’s no different than draft-eligible players who bypass Bowl games in December and January to get ready for the NFL.
The injury he suffered generally takes a year to recover from, but Simmons, like Patrick Mahomes did with his knee injury, defeated timelines and was committed to being ready for opening day in the NFL. In consecutive seasons, each accomplished that improbable goal.
There was no question Simmons would be drafted in the first round, but as reports circulated about issues at Ohio State and medical reports suggested he could be out until October, the Chiefs, who had the second-to-last pick in the first round, hoped Simmons would slide.
When Kansas City drafted the Ohio State standout, he committed himself to the training room. He took no shortcuts and spent the time between the NFL Draft and the start of training camp focused on being a day-one starter for the Chiefs. Thus, he stayed in Kansas City and went to work with the Chiefs medical staff.
He was brilliant in the early stages of his rookie season, including his memorable chase down of an Eagles defender who had intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone that was sprinting to the other end of the field. Simmons who trailed the play by 15 yards, came out of nowhere and prevented a touchdown 60 yards down the field.
That single play tells me this man is a special athlete and would do whatever he could to help his team win a football game.
After his return, Simmons regained his starting spot, appeared to have settled his personal issues, and played magnificently. However, in December, he dislocated and fractured his wrist, ending his rookie year.
Again, he had surgery and worked his tail off in Kansas City to heal his wrist and get ready for his sophomore season in the NFL. In the offseason, pictures surfaced of his Atlas body, chiseled with muscles from his neck to his toes.
Then about a month ago, he felt back pain. Something that, if severe, could end NFL careers. It was new for Simmons, and he wanted to confirm the Chiefs’ initial diagnosis.
The team felt exercise could ease the discomfort with the disk issue (which he is doing now), but Simmons, on the advice of his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and with the blessing of the Chiefs’ training staff, got a second opinion. The results likely confirmed the initial diagnosis, but Simmons is yet to make his 2026 debut.
So here’s the point, and why fans might not support my view, but I’m a glass-half-full person. If Simmons, in his mind and body, isn’t ready to return, why is that decision an issue?
If fans understood what these athletes have to do each week to play through it all, I’d remind them of the Willie Roaf story. I’ve seen firsthand that the pain tolerance of the NFL gladiators differs from one to the next. They aren’t all built the same, and each has its own recovery pace. This is the third injury Simmons has had to deal with in less than two years. Again, pain is not an external illusion; it is internal.
I’m sure Simmons does not want to make this a public matter. It’s been confirmed he’s been working out at the Chiefs facility, and though people might be frustrated by the lack of news or evidence, he’s doing what he has done in the past inside the training room. Yet some assume he doesn’t want to play football because the media and fans don’t see the work he puts in every day.
If he can get back to the field, he will. If the injury worsens and he can’t play at any point this season, it will be based on medical fact. Injuries happen every day in the NFL; that’s why you build a 53-man roster. Further, if the Chiefs felt this was a long-term concern, then why not place him on injured reserve?
I’ve been around athletes my entire life. I wish I had the physical attributes to play football when I was younger, and despite what I’ve seen with my own eyes, I would trade a hip and knee replacement decades later to have played in the NFL.
Simmons has made sacrifices both off and on the field. If his path is to come along slowly until he’s 100% comfortable returning from his injury, and he has the support of his head coach, who updates his status in every media session, then that’s fine with me. It should be for everyone else, too.
Fortunately, the emergence of undrafted tackle Khalil Benson, who replaced Simmons in a game-one win over Denver, has eased the need for Simmons to return.
However, make NO MISTAKE about this reality check. The Chiefs need Simmons back at left tackle so Benson can move to right tackle, win the AFC West, and have a significant January run in the playoffs. That’s the best combination of tackles for this football team and its Super Bowl dreams.
That’s how valuable Simmons is to this offense and to this team, which is working passionately to erase the stench of the 2025 season.
I’ve heard nothing that indicates Simmons is doing anything different in that quest, and when he returns, it’ll be when he’s ready, not because of public sentiment. Yes, you can be frustrated with the process, but to pile on Simmons makes little sense. This team needs him back!
In reality, it’s out of our hands, but if he returns to practice before the bye week, which I think he will at some point, I hope the narrative begins to change regarding Simmons.
