One of the more concerning storylines in what has otherwise been a strong 5-1 start to the season for the Kansas City Chiefs has been Josh Simmons' back injury. A bulging disc in his lower back has kept the left tackle off the field the entire campaign, and the team placed him on Injured Reserve last week after his recovery stalled despite a brief return to practice in limited capacity.
Up until a few days ago, there was still optimism around the fanbase
regarding Simmons' situation, as the training staff reportedly doesn't believe he'll need surgery for his injury and thinks he can heal with rest. However, the perception of Simmons took a turn for the worse when Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport revealed a dispute that went down in practice.
According to the report, Simmons was in a team meeting with his feet propped up. Head coach Andy Reid took exception to this, and so did quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The superstar signal-caller allegedly asked Simmons to put his feet down and told him to leave
the meeting in order to get treatment.
The latest development was bound to come up when the two-time MVP spoke to the media on Wednesday. He didn't directly confirm or deny the details of the exchange, but acknowledged that difficult conversations had taken place and that the team needs to do a better job of keeping those things in-house moving forward.
"Stuff like that doesn't really bother because I'm so in the moment. I think we've had the right conversations now," Mahomes stated. "We're moving in the direction. You have to have hard conversations at some point... We've built this culture of coming together as a family, and kind of doing whatever we can to make sure that not only the player but also the person is going in the right direction. You want to keep those conversations in the building, and so that's something we'll be better at moving forward."
Rather than a hostile back-and-forth, Mahomes insisted that this was more of an open dialogue typical of the culture Reid has built throughout his years as head coach. He made sure to clarify that there was nothing malicious about the altercation and that things like that happen fairly often in the locker room.
Mahomes' outlook is far different from the one some Chiefs fans have taken amid the growing uncertainty surrounding Simmons. With the former first-round pick yet to play this season and now facing at least four more games on IR, questions about his future in Kansas City have grown. KCSN's very own Tucker Franklin and Matt Verderame recently pondered
whether Simmons has played his final game in the red and gold.
That isn't the perspective Mahomes has, though. He remains steadfast in his belief that Simmons has been working hard during this recovery process and will be back to help the team at some point.
"I'm extremely confident because I've seen the work he puts in," Mahomes said, according to 96.5 The Fan . "He's doing his rehab, he's doing his work, he's doing everything he can to be back on that field. He'll have a couple weeks here now while he's on IR where he can get himself back to the physical shape that he can be in. He'll be mentally confident to go out there and be the best version of himself, when he's able to do that, he'll be back on the football field."
Much has been said about the situation, and it certainly hasn't been a good look for the Chiefs. They invested a first-round pick in Simmons in last year's draft, and he was solid when he played across his eight starts
as a rookie. However, he dealt with personal issues and a wrist injury that forced him to miss extended time, and it's starting to feel like his absence in 2026 is for something beyond football as well.
In the meantime, undrafted rookie Kahlil Benson has been filling in at left tackle
. He's stepped into a difficult role early in his career, but Simmons was drafted to help protect Mahomes for years to come. It is no secret that the Chiefs' best version of themselves includes Simmons on the blind side of KC's franchise cornerstone.
The public narrative surrounding Simmons has become increasingly negative, which is why Mahomes made sure to tread carefully with his words. While his comments don't put to rest the rumors about the tackle's long-term future in Kansas City, they do shed light on how Mahomes saw things through his own lens.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/onsi as Patrick Mahomes Voices Thoughts on Josh Simmons Situation; Optimistic About 2026 Return .
