It’s officially been one month since rookie left tackle Josh Simmons took a break from football to deal with a personal matter, and although he is back in Kansas City practicing with the team, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is still declining to say whether Simmons will be back in his starting job this Sunday against the Denver Broncos.
“Yeah, we’ll just see,” Reid told reporters before Wednesday’s practice. “I haven’t even got him out for a practice yet, so let’s see how he’ll jump in and see what he can do and mix it up out there and do… and then we’ll go from there.”
So while it was far from a guarantee that Simmons will start against the Broncos, it was also a long way from ruling him out. One thing Reid has to take into consideration is that backup tackle Jaylon Moore has filled in pretty well in Simmons’ absence — although that has been complicated by right tackle Jawaan Taylor having his ankle banged up during the Chiefs’ Week 9 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
The good news is that both Simmons and Taylor were full participants in Wednesday’s practice. If the Chiefs do need some time to let Simmons work back into form, their hand isn’t being forced.
Still, Reid seemed cautiously hopeful that his tackle would be ready sooner rather than later.
“Let’s just see what kind of shape he’s in,” said Reid. “Get back into the football swing… I’m sure he’s gonna be OK, but we’ll see.”
As for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, he believes the team is “full steam ahead” as it tries to get its season back on track after a disappointing 5-4 start. He has faith that either Simmons or Moore can get the job done.
“We’re super excited to have Josh back and just being back in the building,” he said on Wednesday. “We’ll get him out in the practice field and see where he’s at. But I think you saw with both those guys, they can both play at a very high level — so I think Coach will make that decision as the week goes on. But I have confidence in both of them that they’ll go out there and have success.”
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