The Kansas City Chiefs sent a message to the rest of the NFL Sunday night when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts in overtime 33-30 to start the season at 2-0 after winning just six games and missing the playoffs last season.
The Chiefs have had the luxury of playing those first two games at Arrowhead Stadium. On Sunday, Sept. 27, they find out whether they can take their momentum on the road when they travel to Miami to face the Dolphins in a 1 p.m. game to be broadcast to large portions of the country by CBS.
On Wednesday morning, Chiefs coach Andy Reid announced a new decision regarding their increasingly controversial 2025 first-round draft pick.
Chiefs left tackle Josh Simmons will miss practice again Wednesday, Reid announced, as Simmons’ reported back injury still clouds his status for Sunday’s Week 3 game.
Simmons has not practiced since mid-August, and each lost week revives old questions about a first-round pick who has spent much of his young career away from the field.
Reid addressed the second-year tackle’s status Wednesday.
“He’s getting better, but he won’t go today,” Reid said, according to The Kansas City Star Chiefs reporter Pete Sweeney.
A source told Pro Football Talk founder Mike Florio that Simmons is week-to-week and has sought a second opinion from a back specialist. He reports to the facility daily for rehab and meetings. The Chiefs have not moved him to injured reserve, which would sideline him for at least four games.
“There’s a spot in there that flared up,” Reid said Sept. 2. “Now you got to sit here and wait until that thing calms down.”
“He’s working his tail off, it’s just — we knew it would be a couple, two, three, four games in here as long as he was making progress,” Reid said Monday, according to Pro Football Talk. The staff is still waiting on the swelling to subside.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Josh Simmons Faces Familiar Doubts
A San Diego native, Simmons started at San Diego State before transferring to Ohio State, where a knee injury against Oregon ended his 2024 season after six games, according to his Ohio State University athletics roster biography.
The torn patellar tendon only partly explains his slide to No. 32 in 2025. Before the draft, ESPN‘s Jeremy Fowler reported “character concerns,” quoting an anonymous AFC executive.
“Certain things are important to him — pass blocking, game day — but others are not, such as practices and run blocking,” the executive said, as quoted by Sportsnaut.
Veteran draft writer Bob McGinn went further.
“Removed from consideration by one team for makeup issues,” McGinn wrote of Simmons, according to Sports Illustrated.
As a rookie, Simmons started the Chiefs’ first five games. But before an October game against Detroit, he left for California without team officials knowing where he was, ESPN‘s Nate Taylor reported, according to a column by OutKick‘s Bobby Burack. The Chiefs called it a family matter. Simmons was gone 22 days.
A dislocated and fractured wrist later ended his eight-game rookie season.
“I do not buy this is just a ‘back’ issue for Josh Simmons,” Burack wrote this month. “Not for a second.” But Florio’s source called the problem strictly physical.
Kansas City Chiefs Stay Unbeaten Without Josh Simmons
Kansas City has not lost without him, opening 2-0 behind Kahlil Benson, an undrafted rookie from Indiana who logged zero college snaps on the left edge.
In Week 1, Patrick Mahomes, back from ACL and LCL tears, threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-10 rout of Denver. He took two sacks. Benson gave up a single pressure across 32 pass sets, according to Newsweek sports writer Rowan Fisher-Shotton.
Through 149 snaps across two starts, Benson has surrendered zero sacks, two hits and six pressures, according to Pro Football Focus player grading data. His 53.8 pass-blocking grade ranks 59th of 66 qualifying tackles. His 74.7 run-blocking grade ranks 15th.
Chiefs Announce New Josh Simmons Decision Before Dolphins Game