The Dockers released a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying that no decision had been made on Simpson's future and the 20-year-old was now "on leave from the club".
"The club has advised Josh Simpson and his management that we will be having ongoing discussions throughout the week with regards to the issues at hand," general manager of football operations Chris Bond said.
“Until those discussions have been finalised, Josh will be on leave from the club.”
Simpson caused a stir last week when he missed a flight to Sydney after being selected as the Dockers' travelling emergency for their round five clash with the Sydney Swans.
Ross Lyon revealed in his post-match interview that the Dockers' 2012 first-round draft pick was dealing with a number of personal issues.
"He's had a difficult 18 months," Lyon said.
"He has a number of family, cultural and attitudinal situations to work through.
"He'd done enough to be picked but, in this case, clearly Josh was disappointed about being out of the team so he's basically dropped his bundle."
Lyon said the club would continue to support Simpson, however it was clear that the youngster would need to earn back the trust of his coach.
"It's really trying circumstances for us as a football club," Lyon said.
"We're working through all those things with Josh."
"I haven't run out of patience, we're here to support the person and challenge the action or the behaviour.
"We'll clearly come together as a football club with leaders and Josh and his manager and talk about potential ramifications and how he needs to earn the trust back."
