Chiefs' Simmons Making Strong First Impression at Rookie Minicamp

The Kansas City Chiefs landed a top prospect in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft in offensive lineman Josh Simmons. After his knee injury, his draft stock almost pushed him out of the first round, but ultimately, he landed on a team that could use his skillset the most.

Simmons has been heavily watched since his injury to his left knee, as training camp looms around the corner. The Chiefs are not only taking a risk by drafting Simmons due to his injury past, but also rolling the dice to see if he will be ready to compete sooner rather than later.

On Sunday, head coach Andy Reid addressed the media to discuss his thoughts on how rookie minicamp has been going. That, of course, involved the discussion of Simmons and what he has been able to work through. The response from Reid was encouraging.

“Josh is doing mostly the individual work,” Reid said. “We try to keep him out of the team stuff — if we’re going against a defense — so just taking it slow here. We’re just kind of getting a feel where he’s at with this; he had a kind of a heavy traffic travel schedule during the 30-visit thing, so [we want to] make sure [his knee’s] strong and going. But he looks like he’s got some talent there.”

Simmons has been participating in warm-ups with the crew, but as Reid attested to keeping Simmons' knee protected as long as they can. The Chiefs have experienced injuries in camp before, so with this type of recovery needed for the first-round pick, they're doing all they can.

“It looks like he’s moving around good,” Reid said. “He’s right on [to] where he just needs a little bit more time, but he’s moving around well. I was surprised on how well he was doing out there moving — and he looks like he’s comfortable with it.”

Reid has been overall impressed and pleased with how the seven new draftees have been responding to their new workload. With more on the way, this is a giant first step in these rookies getting their feet wet.

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