{"id":965190,"date":"2026-08-05T20:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/965190\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T20:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:39:14","slug":"chiefs-training-camp-notebook-day-7-josh-simmons-is-up-a-weight-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/965190\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs training camp notebook Day 7: Josh Simmons is up a weight class"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> had a weather-impacted practice for the second time in seven practices at training camp in St. Joe. This time, the team moved indoors for a good portion of practice, then came back out and finished on the wet grass fields to cap off the longest start-to-finish practice of camp.<\/p>\n

In this post-practice interview<\/a> with CBS Sports\u2019 Evan Washburn, head coach Andy Reid praised the players for staying focused through \u201csudden change.\u201d It seemed like the old ball coach enjoyed putting his team through a unique circumstance, one that was rare, according to defensive tackle Chris Jones in a separate interview with Washburn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started lightning earlier; we went inside. The first time ever, in 11 years, we came back to the field,\u201d Jones told Washburn. \u201cIt was a really, really good practice\u2026 get out here so the fans can see us and give us a little energy on defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to the rain, there were limited in-person observations from the Arrowhead Pride crew today. Check out the notes that were taken down in The Feed this morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reid broke down the list of injured players after practice, but he also provided notes on a few different players<\/a>. One of the most significant was about second-year left tackle Josh Simmons.<\/p>\n

Andy Reid approves of Josh Simmons going up a weight class<\/p>\n

Reid was asked about Simmons\u2019 weight in his press conference, a point of discussion among many in Chiefs Kingdom this offseason when he debuted a stronger, bigger physique during OTAs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe put on weight in the offseason; he\u2019s been able to maintain it,\u201d Reid told the media. \u201cI think it\u2019ll help him, not that he couldn\u2019t do it at the other weight, but this gives him a little bit more lead in his pants, and that pays off over time during the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his own post-practice press conference on Wednesday, Simmons confirmed he is playing at a weight the team is satisfied with.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely where it needs to be,\u201d Simmons said about his weight.<\/p>\n

Simmons is paired up with third-year left guard Kingsley Suamataia on one side of the line. The two are building their chemistry; Reid has taken note.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see them communicating,\u201d Reid noted. \u201cKingsley does a nice job with that, making sure Josh gets all the calls and everything. The more they play together, the better it\u2019ll be; they\u2019re both very gifted athletically, it\u2019s just a matter of technique, fundamentals and all that stuff. They work like crazy on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand how he goes about blocks now,\u201d Simmons said of Suamataia. \u201cWhat he\u2019s seeing when he\u2019s coming to the line. If I can understand and kind of have that telepathy with him, I think that we can play a lot faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other side of the offensive line, rookie right tackle Kahlil Benson seems to be settling in as a potential long-term starter alongside Simmons and Suamataia. Before we all get too far ahead of ourselves, Simmons has given Benson advice on how to proceed from a strong initial impression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Kahlil\u2019s doing a great job; he\u2019s a very physical player,\u201d Simmons shared. \u201cI think he should just add onto that; I don\u2019t think you can really teach effort. I mean, that\u2019s what he\u2019s giving out there, so that\u2019s really all I\u2019m telling him right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

R Mason Thomas is testing Simmons, Chiefs\u2019 offensive line<\/p>\n

\u201cExtremely explosive,\u201d Simmons described rookie edge rusher R Mason Thomas. \u201cYou almost have to be offsides to stay in front of him. I think he\u2019ll definitely keep me and any tackle on their toes to make sure we\u2019re on the snap count, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get ready for Simmons leading the way on screen passes<\/p>\n

\u201cExtremely scary,\u201d Simmons said about running back Kenneth Walker when asked about the screen game. \u201cWe kind of know what [Walker] does and what he\u2019s capable of doing. As long as we can just target and get to our assignments, we know he\u2019s going to take us home. One-hundred percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other notes from Andy Reid<\/p>\n

Fourth-year defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah is looking for a career resurgence in 2026. One aspect of his game that lacked early in his career was speed off the ball. Reid has noted improvement in that area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Gillotte down, he\u2019s getting a few more reps in there, doing a nice job,\u201d Reid said. \u201cYou can tell that his explosion off the ball is better\u2026 way different at getting off the ball. If there\u2019s one thing that jumps out at me, it\u2019s that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a strong day for the tight ends at training camp Wednesday. Noah Gray was the star of practice, but second-year tight end Jake Briningstool has finally been able to showcase his skills to Reid and the coaching staff after missing nearly all of last offseason with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great that he\u2019s back-to-back in these practices here, then you get a chance to see what he\u2019s all about,\u201d Reid said of the former Clemson tight end. \u201cHe\u2019s a good receiver, and he\u2019s stuck his nose in there, and he\u2019s blocking. My hat goes off to him; he just has to keep stacking them right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without wide receivers Xavier Worthy and rookie Cyrus Allen in the mix for practice Tuesday and Wednesday, two lesser-known names have stepped up: Andrew Armstrong and Jimmy Holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like what Armstrong\u2019s doing,\u201d Reid pointed out. \u201cHe\u2019s a big kid, strong, looks like the quarterbacks trust him\u2026 they trust him on his route running. He\u2019s got good speed for a big kid and good transition; he\u2019s not stiff coming out of breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy\u2019s the other one,\u201d Reid continued. \u201cHe\u2019s really shown the last few days here, and that\u2019s important for his job here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday, the Kansas City Chiefs had a weather-impacted practice for the second time in seven practices at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":965191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,922,26169,2438,2437,6],"class_list":["post-965190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-chiefs","tag-football","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-training-camp","tag-kansascity","tag-kansascitychiefs","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117044836020736912","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/965191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}