Chiefs' OT Josh Simmons Heading To Short-Term IR

It was quickly becoming one of the NFL's worst-kept secrets and on Thursday it became reality: the Kansas City Chiefs have put offensive tackle Josh Simmons, a 2025 first-round draft pick out of Ohio State University, on injured reserve.

Officially, Simmons, who has yet to see any game action in 2026, was placed on short-term IR with a bulging disc in his back.

The designation "short-term IR" means that he will miss at least the next four weeks of practices and games. Should he be announced fit at that point, the Chiefs would have the option to open his "return to work" window, which would give them up to 21 days to decide if Simmons is fit to play or if he needs more time in the trainer's room.

That means that Simmons has to miss the Chiefs' upcoming games against  the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons. His return window features contests against the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams.

Of course, there is also the possibility that the injury is serious enough that he could be sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Simmons alerted the Chiefs' medical staff that he was suffering from calf and lower-back pain during training camp in mid-August. At that time the decision was made to ease back on his workload, though there had been positive reports that he would soon begin ramping up his on-field work. Head coach Andy Reid even used the term "ramp-up period" when discussing Simmons' return to practice the week of Oct. 12.

That has all now gone by the wayside with Simmons moving to IR.

“Josh worked his tail off; he worked diligently with my staff every day and has improved to the point where he returned to practice in a limited capacity last week," Rick Burkholder, the Chiefs' vice president of sports medicine and performance was quoted as saying in a report by Ron Kopp Jr. of Arrowhead Pride on Thursday. "However, we feel that he has plateaued in the rehab process as he’s trying to get to the final steps of recovery with return to competition, and he’s just not there yet.”

So where does that leave the Chiefs' offensive line moving forward?

Kahlil Benson, a rookie who signed with Kansas City this spring as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Indiana, has started all five of the Chiefs' games at left tackle in place of Simmons.

While Benson has performed admirably in a tough situation, his pass-blocking grade has slipped to 43.7, according to Pro Football Focus, due to the high 11.5% pressure rate that he allows.

His PFF run-blocking grade of 76.6 ranks him 14th of 74 qualified offensive tackles, which is easy to understand since the Chiefs are second in the league in rushing yards per game with 159.8. That is less than one yard behind the Chicago Bears' league-leading 160.7 yards on the ground per game.

Kansas City's other backup offensive tackle, Jaylon Moore, left last Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers with a concussion and he remains in the concussion protocol so his status for Sunday night's game in Seattle against the Seahawks is in doubt, so it looks like Benson will remain the proverbial "next man up" for at least the short-term.

In the longer term, the league's trading deadline is Nov. 10, but no quick fixes at offensive tackle are expected to be available, according to The Athletic.