NFL insider Ian Rapoport said Tuesday he does not know if Kansas City Chiefs second-year left tackle Josh Simmons will ever play for the team again, or if he does, when that will be.
The comments follow an earlier report by Rapoport that coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes kicked Simmons out of a team meeting, and they leave his standing with the franchise unresolved. That report emerged on Sunday, just hours before the Chiefs played the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.
ESPN host Peter Schrager asked Rapoport for a recap of the Sunday report, which Rapoport wrote with Mike Garafolo, on Tuesday’s edition of ESPN’s Big Day with Peter Schrager.
“So the gist of the report was this, something I reported with Mike Garafolo on Sunday. As you mentioned, Josh Simmons was asked to leave a team meeting by Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. It involved having his feet up on the desk. He said he needed to because of his back. He’s going through rehab, and they said, ‘Well, just get out of here and go rehab.’
“He did not handle it well. He went and apologized after. Then he was placed on injured reserve,” Rapoport recounted.
“And there are a lot of questions about Josh Simmons, who is as talented a left tackle as you could possibly get. He is a stud as a player. I don’t know if he plays for the Chiefs again. I don’t know when he plays for the Chiefs again. There’s nothing more important than protecting Patrick Mahomes. You have to believe in the person doing it, and until that happens, I don’t know that he’s out there,” Rapoport said.
Replies to Schrager’s post included theories that the Chiefs are moving on from Simmons and that the team’s front office planted the story with Rapoport. Those online theories are not verified or confirmed.
Chiefs’ Josh Simmons Injury and Meeting Fallout
Simmons sat with his feet propped up in an offensive meeting Wednesday, the day before the Chiefs placed him on injured reserve, according to the Rapoport-Garafolo report for ESPN. Reid asked him to lower them. Simmons answered that his back and hips ached, and Reid told him to see the trainers. The exchange continued until Mahomes repeated the order, according to the report.
A perturbed Simmons left the room but stayed at the facility. He later apologized to Reid and team leadership, saying he could have handled the moment better.
Simmons has dealt with a bulging disc in his lower back since August, and the Chiefs moved him to injured reserve once his rehab stalled, according to ESPN. Head trainer Rick Burkholder called the move strictly medical, with Simmons, his agent, Reid and general manager Brett Veach in agreement, as detailed by The Athletic.
Reid addressed the report after Sunday night’s loss to Seattle.
“I’ve said so much on him. Rick’s talked about him, this and that. Things happen. That’s no reason he’s been put on IR. He’s got a bad back. He’s got to get that worked out. But that’s the main thing. I’ll leave it at that,” Reid said, as quoted by USA Today.
Josh Simmons’ Kansas City Chiefs Career and Games Played
Simmons started the first five games of his 2025 rookie season, then missed Weeks 6 through 9 for what Reid called a family situation, according to the Sporting News. He returned to the lineup, then dislocated and fractured his left wrist on Thanksgiving against Dallas, according to The Associated Press. Surgery ended his season.
He has played in just eight of a possible 22 games with Kansas City, all starts in 2025. The Chiefs drafted the San Diego native 32nd overall, the last pick of the first round, in 2025.
Simmons started all 13 games at right tackle for San Diego State in 2022, then started 13 at left tackle for Ohio State in 2023. A torn patellar tendon against Oregon ended his 2024 season after six starts.
Will Josh Simmons Play for the Chiefs Again? NFL Insider Says ‘I Don’t Know’