Clyde Edwards-Helaire Out for Chiefs Due to Rare Reason

In less than 72 hours, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night in the 2024 NFL Kickoff Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

When the reigning Super Bowl champs take the field, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire will not be with them as he will miss at least the first four games of the season after the team placed him on the non-football illness (NFI) list on Labor Day.

A 2020 first-round draft pick who's been to three Super Bowls (winning two) in his four NFL seasons, Edwards-Helaire is out due to an issue you don't typically hear about in pro football: post-traumatic stress disorder.

In August, the 25-year-old opened up about what he has been dealing with since facing a "self-defense situation” in 2018 while he was still in college at LSU. According to Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City assistant athletic trainer Julie Frymyer helped diagnose him and set up a treatment plan.

"Sometimes I’m admitted into the hospital, something like I can’t stop throwing up,” Edwards-Helaire said at the time. “The only person who kind of put me in the right direction was Julie Frymyer.”

Unfortunately for the Chiefs and Edwards-Helaire, who missed several training camp practices, the treatment has not been effective enough to get him ready to play in Thursday night's season opener against the Ravens.

Speaking on Monday, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy addressed the situation. "We all have different things that we go through and Clyde is such a special person. He’s a great human being.” Nagy said. “I think, number one, everybody in this building wants to make sure that Clyde is good on that side and that he’s happy and enjoying everything that he does because when he’s when he’s in the building, he’s phenomenal."

The Chiefs are echoing Nagy's statement with their actions as Kansas City is keeping Edwards-Helaire on the club's payroll even though teams are not obligated to pay weekly salaries for players who land on the NFI list. It's a legit classy move and probably not one that every NFL would make.

Without Edwards-Helaire, the Chiefs will roll with veteran Samaje Perine as the primary backup to starting RB Isiah Pacheco. Rookie Carson Steele, who showed will during training camp and the preseason, could also be in the mix for carries.