The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off an electrifying 30-17 win over the Detroit Lions on “Sunday Night Football,” and now, they’re 3-3 heading into a highly anticipated Week 7 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
One prominent Chiefs starter has already been ruled out, and teammates are keeping him in their prayers.
On Friday, the team announced that offensive lineman Josh Simmons won’t play in Sunday’s game against the Raiders. The rookie OT has been at home in California dealing with a family situation, according to a report from the AP.
Kansas City has been quiet about details of the family issue that Simmons is dealing with, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes told reporters that he’s keeping the conversations that he’s been having with Simmons private, but he disclosed that he’s praying for him.
Following the Chiefs’ win over the Lions, Reid was asked about Simmons but he was also tight-lipped on the matter.
“We’ll see when he’s back,” Reid said. “He’s going to take care of that, and we’re going to see where it goes from there. We were aware of it, yeah.”
Reid also said that he wasn’t going to comment on anything about Simmons’ possible return and that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach is dealing with the details.
Also following the victory over the Lions, Mahomes said that he was taken aback by Simmons’ situation.
“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t fully know,” he told reporters. “Obviously, we had a walkthrough around noon, 1:00, whatever it was. He wasn’t there, so I knew something was up. Talking with the coaches after, obviously a personal matter.”
On Thursday, Chiefs insider Nate Taylor of ESPN said that Simmons’ situation was “extremely serious” and “a family matter.” Taylor also emphasized that Simmons was back in California, and that “he left at a time on Sunday that is extremely unusual. I’m not sure when he’s coming back and as of right now the team doesn’t know when he’s coming back.”
“I’m fearful because we don’t have all the answers right now,” Taylor added, “That makes the outcome perhaps grim. I just want people to understand that this is really difficult for Josh.”
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