After Kansas City’s ninth training camp practice, the head coach talked linemen.
Coming off their blowout Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Kansas City Chiefs made it a priority to bolster the offensive line this offseason.
General manager Brett Veach did so by first signing former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Jaylon Moore and then drafting Ohio State’s Josh Simmons with the No. 32 overall pick.
A week into camp… well, so far, so good.
Simmons has taken every rep at the starting left tackle position, while Moore has rotated with Kingsley Suamataia at left guard and Jawaan Taylor at right tackle. In the Super Bowl, the Chiefs seemed to be out of viable starters. Right now, it feels like they have one too many.
It’s rare for the spotlight of an NFL training camp to surround a single offensive lineman, but there is no doubt that Simmons is getting all the attention in St. Joseph.
“He’s getting a lot of reps, which I think is important for a rookie,” said Reid of Simmons on Friday. “So he’s been in there and consistently showing up every day and working and not taking plays off or any of that. He’s a worker. He’s willing to do it. It’s just a matter of, ‘You gotta keep on going.’ But he’s done a nice job with what we’ve asked him. He’s working on all the fundamentals and techniques, so that’s a challenge for him.”
Simmons silenced many doubters when he progressed enough in his injury rehab to be a full, healthy participant during organized team activities (OTAs) — and now, training camp. Only 10 months removed from a torn patellar tendon, Simmons says the bulk of the rehab is done; he and Kansas City’s training staff have shifted their focus to maintenance work.
Rather than returning home to San Diego (or spending time at Ohio State) during the break between OTAs and training camp, Simmons stayed in Kansas City to keep his momentum going.
“They know my body,” he explained. “I didn’t want to go somewhere else, and then they have to kind of re-figure out my body — figure out, oh, how does this work? Is he quick with stuff like that? They know everything. They pass it down to them, so I put my trust in them.”
With the injury behind him, Simmons is playing freely while learning from line coach Andy Heck and Bill Walsh minority-coaching fellow Juan Castillo.
“They put like a plethora of just different pass sets, different hand movements into my toolbox,” noted Simmons. “So it’s like the best resource any rookie can have — just having that in your back pocket. Asking after a pass rush, ‘What did I do wrong here? How can I fix it?’ And then go to the next rep and then make those corrections. It’s amazing.”
Simmons says his greatest challenge right now is understanding defenses, and there may be no better adversaries to train against than defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and defensive line coach Joe Cullen.
“[By reading defenses], I can play a lot faster,” said Simmons. “Like if I can see a front and anticipate that they may do a stunt or a blitz… then I can easily help Kingsley communicate — stuff like that.”
Suamataia is on his own journey, continuing to settle in at left guard after a failed 2024 stint at left tackle. Theoretically, playing inside should be easier for the second-year lineman than to play outside — but at Chiefs’ camp, it does mean more reps against a future Pro Football Hall of Famer: Chris Jones.
“Every day you can get better, and he’s doing that,” said Reid of Suamataia. “He’s battling. They talk — he and Chris [Jones] talk. Chris has got a ton of respect for him. He knows how good he is, and so they work it. And then they were going back and forth [Friday]. You know, he had some good ones, Chris had some — well, they’re getting better. That makes each other better — competition.”
Throughout the first week, Suamataia has seemed confident — and the coaching staff noticed improvement.
“He’s been on a mission since he got back,” added Reid. “He’s been pretty focused in on that. You know, I think he likes that spot, and he’s taken to it well. He’s willing to work. That’s never been his issue, man. He comes out and he works his tail off, so we’ve been happy with what we see. We’ve got to keep going. But [a] powerful kid.”
Pressed for clarity on the starting rotation, Reid kept his answer positive for all the candidates.
“It gives you flexibility,” said Reid. “So if somebody gets hurt, you plug a guy in. You only can dress so many on game day. So you want to make sure you’ve got some guys that can kind of move around a little bit — whether it’s a guard playing center, center playing guard, tackle playing guard. You’re lucky enough, you might get one that plays all three spots.”
Observations
Caleb James was present for Tuesday’s practice. You can find his complete observations by clicking here.
Injury report
- Returned to practice: LB Jeff Bassa (ankle), OL Jawaan Taylor (knee), WR Xavier Worthy (ear)
- Out of practice (due to injury): TE Jake Briningstool (out with hamstring since 7/26), WR Hollywood Brown (out with ankle since 7/30), S Deon Bush (out with hamstring since 7/29), WR Skyy Moore (out with hamstring since 7/30)
- Left practice early (due to injury): LB Drue Tranquill
- Non-football injury (NFI) list: DL BJ Thompson
- Physically unable to perform (PUP) list: CB Kristian Fulton (out with knee since 7/22)
Post of the day
Our John Dixon compiled all of Friday’s posts here. Here is the post of the day:
Travis Kelce with a nice route to get past S Bryan Cook for the catch #Chiefs l #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/xPkBRdWXuk
— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) August 1, 2025
Sure looks like he’s still got it.
Quote of the day
Wide receiver Nikko Remigio on his efforts to make the roster: “I think the thing that I’ve learned with this business is that if you get too comfortable, you’re gonna get got.”
What’s next?
Friday’s padded practice leads into another padded workout on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. Arrowhead Time. Following the practice, special teams coach Dave Toub will address the media as defensive backs autographs.
Here’s the complete 2025 training camp schedule.