On Thursday, the Kansas City Chiefs started the practice cycle for their next game: a “Monday Night Football” matchup against the Washington Commanders on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
In his opening
statement to reporters before the practice began, head coach Andy Reid covered the players who would miss Thursday’s session.
“The guys who won’t go today [include] Kareem Hunt, who has a bone bruise on his knee,” he announced. “He’s going to be OK, but we’ll have him sit out today. And Trey [Smith]. [He’s] got low back spasms. It’s getting better. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Then Reid moved on to the situation for which everyone has been seeking clarification: left tackle Josh Simmons’ mysterious absence. Reid said little about it — but compared to his previous statements, it was an avalanche of information.
“There’s communication,” said Reid. “I’m not going to get into all of it. Everything’s positive; it’s not a negative situation. He’s taking care of family.”
So for the first time, Reid confirmed that Simmons’ absence — which has previously been characterized only as “personal” — has something to do with a family member. While this still falls well short of a precise answer about why Simmons has missed the last two games, it does eliminate several different classes of speculation about the situation.
Later, the coach was asked if the team had any indication of a timeline for Simmons’ return. Reid sidestepped the question.
“It’s been positive,” he repeated. “He’s just taking care of business. That’s the main thing, right here. When you deal with this, that’s what you do. And he’s been very good about communicating it.”
