An already banged up offensive line in Kansas City may have taken a big hit today as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the team’s starting left tackle, Josh Simmons, suffered a dislocated and fractured wrist today and “is out indefinitely.” Simmons was seen leaving the locker room with a cast on his left wrist after today’s game, per ESPN’s Nate Taylor, and he’ll undergo an MRI tomorrow before determinations are made on treatment. 
Depending on the resulting prognosis following the testing and treatment, this could be the second extended absence of Simmons’ rookie campaign. Earlier in the year, Simmons sat out the four-game stretch before the Chiefs’ bye week as he dealt with a mysterious personal issue. Disappearing after the first five starts of his career, Simmons finally returned in Week 11 to take his starting job back.
In his first absence, swing tackle Jaylon Moore filled in at left tackle for Kansas City. It’s a role Moore is extremely familiar with after filling in several games for 49ers star left tackle Trent Williams over the course of his rookie contract. The Chiefs paid Moore handsomely over the offseason to come in and do more of the same in Kansas City.
Unfortunately, the Chiefs could be dealing with injuries to multiple tackles. Right tackle Jawaan Taylor was also hurt in today’s game, leaving the contest with an elbow injury and getting ruled out shortly after. There’s been much less information about Taylor’s status since the game ended, so any further inference would only be speculation. That being said, any absence Taylor may be faced with could take things from bad to worse for a team fighting to stay above .500 and in the playoff race.
If Taylor is forced to miss game time and Moore is already subbing in for Simmons, Wanya Morris is the next man up on the depth chart. Morris started 11 games for the Chiefs at left tackle last year, but his struggles at the position were part of what prompted Kansas City to use their Day 1 pick on Simmons this year.
Updates on this situation will follow as the results of testing and treatment unfold in the coming days. The Chiefs closing stretch of the regular season sees their toughest remaining opponents (Texans, Chargers, Broncos) at home with their only remaining road trips coming against the lowly Titans and Raiders. A playoff berth isn’t impossible by any means for a team well experienced in playing a high level of football this late in the season, but they’ll want to find a way to field a healthy offensive line in order to make this push to the postseason a bit more manageable.
