Patrick Mahomes isn’t treating the Josh Simmons situation like something that’s going to throw the Chiefs off course.
On Wednesday, after reports surfaced that Simmons had been asked to leave a team meeting during the Chiefs’ game week in Seattle, Mahomes said the team has already worked through the issue and is “moving in the right direction.”
“Stuff like that really doesn’t bother me because I’m so, like, in the moment (with) this team,” Mahomes said. “I think we’ve had the right conversations now. We’re moving in the right direction.
“You have to have hard conversations, and I think we’ve had those.”
The matter became public on the morning of Kansas City’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup at Seattle, when ESPN’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reported that Simmons, who is dealing with a back injury, was told to leave a meeting by Andy Reid and Mahomes.
According to the report, Simmons had his feet up during the meeting, Reid told him to adjust his posture, and Simmons responded that he needed to sit that way because of his back. Reid reportedly told him to see the trainers if he was in pain, and Mahomes supported Reid’s stance. Simmons later apologized, the report said.
Simmons’ injury situation has been unfolding since August, when he missed a training camp practice with what was initially announced as a calf injury. An MRI later showed a bulging, herniated disc in his lumbar spine.
The Chiefs chose not to put him on injured reserve before the season, believing he would not need to miss the first four games. That didn’t play out that way.
He still hasn’t returned, and Kansas City placed him on IR last week. The earliest he can come back is Week 11.
Reid also spoke about the situation after the Chiefs’ loss in Seattle, saying, “I’ve said so much on him. Things happen.
That’s no reasoning that he was put on IR. He has a bad back, and he has to get that worked out.
I’ll leave it at that.”
Mahomes was asked whether the whole thing could become a distraction, and he pushed back on that idea as well.
“If you handle it the wrong way it could be,” Mahomes said. “At the same time, I feel like we’ve built this culture as coming together as a family and doing whatever we can that not only the player but the person is going in the right direction.
“You can have those hard conversations, then you can have the good conversations that come after that. It’s not always great in life, in general. You have to be able to have tough conversations so you can have better conversations going forward.
“I think that’s something we’ve built here.”
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