The Kansas City Chiefs’ bye week was supposed to be a chance to catch its breath and get healthier.
For offensive tackle Josh Simmons, the extra days have not yet produced the kind of clarity the Chiefs have been waiting on since training camp.
Simmons has been sidelined with a bulging disc in his back, an injury that has already cost him the first four games of the season. The original hope inside the building was that he would be ready for Week 1.
That timeline never held. Last week, head coach Andy Reid finally put a name on the problem and said the disc is also affecting strength in one of Simmons’ legs, a reminder that spinal injuries rarely follow a neat calendar.
ESPN Chiefs insider Nate Taylor, speaking Tuesday on 96.5 The Fan, said he does not expect Simmons to be back on the practice field when Kansas City returns from the bye, and he still has no firm sense of when that will change.
“I have no vibes,” Taylor said. “Let me say this, I’ll be surprised if he practices next week. None of this has been clear-cut, even the things I was told early on in training camp. That might have been true at the time, but it changed. I don’t think he’s had a setback by definition, but he also maybe hasn’t progressed as fast as he or they have wanted.”
Reid has described the situation as tricky, and Taylor said that description fits what he has heard. A bulging disc can linger even when a player is doing the work.
The absence of a formal setback is not the same thing as a clean path back to the lineup.
Taylor said he has heard nothing that would put Simmons on the field next week, and he does not think availability against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6 is the current expectation.
Fans who hoped the bye would force a return, he added, have reason to be frustrated. The reporting simply does not support that outcome yet.
The Chiefs can still use the break for shorter-term issues, including wide receiver Rashee Rice’s hamstring.
Simmons is a different problem. He has been out since camp, the public timeline has already moved once, and the next step is still practice, not a game.
Until he is cleared to work with the offense again, Kansas City will keep managing the left side of the line without the tackle it drafted to stabilize it.
Taylor’s read is that the wait is not over, and that the bye alone is not going to end it.
