The Kansas City Chiefs will have to get through their next four games without their rookie standout left tackle. Nate Taylor of ESPN reported Wednesday that first-round pick Josh Simmons will be sidelined on the injured reserve list after undergoing what was successful surgery on his fractured and dislocated left wrist. While the news isn’t anything shocking, it’s still a major blow to the Chiefs as they look to get right against the Houston Texas after falling on Thanksgiving to the Dallas Cowboys.

Simmons suffered the injury in said loss during an attempted chip-block on Cowboys’ defensive end Jadaveon Clowney that ended in a collision with running back Kareem Hunt late in the third quarter. For a team sitting at 6-6 and nearly out of playoff contention, that’s not a great position to lose a starter at – and it will be critical one for quarterback Patrick Mahomes should the team be able to go on some sort of postseason run. It’s not the only offensive line concern for Kansas City, with right tackle Jawaan Taylor nursing a triceps injury, and left guard Trey Smith enduring ankle and back injuries.

Here is the full story from Chiefs Roundtable writer Bob McCullough on the injury news and what the team will look to do in Simmons’ absence.

Josh Simmons Officially Goes On IR As Successful Wrist Surgery Is Confirmed The Kansas City Chiefs playoff hopes took a significant hit with the announcement that left tackle Josh Simmons is now on IR after undergoing successful surgery on his dislocated left wrist. 

For now, it’s looking like Wayne Morris will slot in at left tackle, as Chiefs head coach Andy Reid explained during his comments to media. But it’s hard to compensate for a rookie tackle who was allowing the third-lowest pressure rate among left tackles at a mere 6.6% rate – that number is good for the second lowest allowed by a rookie left tackle with a minimum of 150 pass block snaps since 2018.

Now, Kansas City still moved the ball after Simmons went out, and it’s easy to believe in some sort of magic when Patrick Mahomes is at quarterback. But against a ferocious Texans defensive front, that’ll be a tall task with other starters dealing with injuries as well. There’s no margin for error in the Chiefs’ final stretch of games. Every game is a must win should they hope to make the playoffs. They’ll need to test their depth this weekend in order to get the job done.