Arrowhead Pride
When he began Wednesday’s press briefing, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid used his opening statement to share some bad news about his rookie left tackle.
“Josh Simmons ended up having surgery on that wrist” said Reid, “for a fracture and a dislocation. He’ll go on to IR — and then we’ll just see about the recovery on that.“
Simmons left Thursday’s 31-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys with a wrist injury — and after the game, he was observed with his arm in a sling and his wrist in a cast.
Reid expects that Simmons — who recovered from his last season’s patellar tendon injury more rapidly than expected — will be able to bounce back quickly.
“The kid loves to play football,” said Reid of Simmons. “He’s depressed about that part. That’s probably the wrong word; he’s down about that part. But he’s upbeat. I mean, the surgery went well, which was a real positive. So he feels good about that. And then it’s just a matter of coming back. He’s did a great job with his knee coming back. He’s a worker, so whatever he can do to rehab it, he’s going to do. That’s just how he rolls.”
As usual, Reid was noncommittal about the possibility that Simmons could be back for the postseason.
“We’ll see how that goes,” he offered. “I’ve gotta wait just a little bit on that and see how that goes with his recovery — but there’s always that chance.”
In the meantime, it looks like the team will fill Simmons’ vacant roster spot with a tackle from the practice squad.
“Esa Pole, by the way, will take that spot,” noted Reid at the end of his opening statement. “He’ll be the one elevated.”
Reid’s use of the term “elevated” suggested that Pole might be brought up on a game-by-game basis — but that’s not entirely consistent with saying Pole will “take that spot.” So it might be that the team plans to activate Pole to the roster — which would allow him to be available for the four (or more) games Simmons will miss on the Reserve/Injured list. If he’s elevated game-by-game, however, he’d be limited to three appearances on the roster.
UPDATE: Later on Wednesday, the Chiefs used their X account to officially announce adding Simmons to the Reserve/Injured list and activating Pole to the 53-man roster. The team also announced that it had filled Pole’s previous spot by signing former Cowboys tackle Matt Waletzko to the practice squad. The 6-foot-8, 305-pound Waletzko was a fifth-round pick in 2022. Over three seasons in Dallas, he appeared in 11 games. He worked out with the Chiefs on Monday.
However it happens, though, Pole will be in a depth role. If right tackle Jawaan Taylor continues to miss time (according to Reid, Taylor and right guard Trey Smith were both being held out of Wednesday’s practice), Reid indicated that Wayna Morris would “probably” play in Simmons’ place at left tackle, while...
