After two preseason games, the early returns on the Kansas City Chiefs’ first-round draft pick Josh Simmons are good. In the limited snaps he’s received, the rookie left tackle has held his own.
Speaking with the media on Monday, Simmons said he has welcomed the challenge.
“I think it’s great for a rookie,” he noted, “because you don’t know what the speed of the NFL is like. [And] the preseason is still different from Week 1, so if I could just take the little baby nuggets that I’m getting in the preseason and
work on [them] for Week 1, I’ll be good.”
For now, Simmons isn’t concentrating on a specific aspect of his game.
“[I’m] working on everything,” he said, “no matter if it’s something like athleticism [or] hand striking. [I] just work on everything.”
Meanwhile, he (and the rest of the offensive line) are going through a lot of mental reps.
“It’s kind of playing like every O-line group does,” he explained. “You just kind of put yourself in that real, third-down-in-Brazil kind of situation, going into the Chargers. Then you just kind of go from there — putting yourself in the situation.”
It’s all part of the development of a young player — although each person’s process is different. Simmons said that what has worked best for him has been playing preseason games and then meeting with coaches, going over what went well — and what needs to be cleaned up.
Specifically, he’s worked hard at following quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ cadence at the line of scrimmage.
“You’ve got to be on time with that,” he observed, “because these speed rushers are extremely athletic. One tick late, and you know he’ll be at Pat’s front door in, like, a second. So you’ve got to get off even with the cadence — like literally time it up perfectly.”
The other big thing has been avoiding tipping off opposing defenses. Some film reviewers have noticed that differences in Simmons’ pre-snap stance could be telling defenses what kind of play is coming.
”That’s something I’ve been working on a lot,“ admitted the rookie, ”[I need to] just kind of square it up and be more universal in my stance — so that defenses aren’t all, ‘It’s pass, it’s pass!‘”
The important thing to remember is that Simmons is still young — and even if there are bumps along the way, he is confident he’ll get it all sorted out.
“These guys are a little faster than college,” he said, “but yeah. It’ll be fixed, for sure.”
