Josh Simmons missed 22 days and four games for the Chiefs — and he’s still not sharing why.
The rookie tackle rejoined the team two weeks ago, but spoke to reporters for the first time Wednesday since mysteriously leaving the team hours before Kansas City kicked off against the Lions on Oct. 12.
“I kind of want to keep that in house, with all due respect,” Simmons said. “I know everybody wants to know, but it’s something I want to keep, you know, [private]. … Obviously, family is the biggest thing Polynesians lean on. When you get in that, it just makes everything a lot better.”
At the time, the Chiefs called Simmons’ absence a “personal reason,” and on Wednesday, the 22-year-old said it was a “family situation.”
He kept up his training, with access to gyms and his playbook, in order to make sure he was ready to return — which came on Nov. 3.
“I was making sure I was working out, just keeping my feet alive and making sure my nervous system was woken up,” Simmons. “I was ready to play. The communication with the team was very transparent, especially at the end. I had some teammates that were always checking in on me. When you have teammates like that, it definitely [helped].
“Being away from the game, I was itching to get back and fight for them.”
Neither the team nor his coach seemed too worried about what was keeping the No. 32 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft away from them.
“He had to take care of business, and he took care of it,” coach Andy Reid said.
They’re even less worried now that he’s back: through six games, he’s the third-best pressure rate (5.4 percent) among qualified left tackles, and has vowed to be with the Chiefs for the rest of the season.
“He’s a great player,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “He’s gotten better every week that he’s played. He’ll continue to get better. For him, it’s just to continue to stack days on days of just pushing himself to be the best player that he can be. The sky’s the limit. He’s just got to keep pushing to get even better.”
