You never know what someone is dealing with off the field. Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire will be sidelined at least four games to kick off the 2024 regular season after being placed on the Reserve/Non-Football Illness list, according to NFL Network’s insider Ian Rapoport.
The veteran running back revealed last month that he has been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, with physical symptoms that include vomiting.
“Sometimes I’m admitted into the hospital, something like I can’t stop throwing up,” he said. “The only person who kind of put me in the right direction was Chiefs assistant athletic trainer Julie Frymyer.”
Edwards-Helaire did not delve into the specific circumstances that led to his PTSD, but did admit that gun violence cost some of his friends their lives and that he dealt with a “self-defense situation” back in 2018 while at LSU.
“Everybody goes through things,” he noted. “Good, bad, just being able to cope with it, just being human. At 25 years old I’m just trying to live the rest of my life healthy.”
Embed from Getty ImagesEdwards-Helaire took to the gridiron in 15 games for the defending champion Chiefs last season, registering 223 rushing yards and a touchdown in a backup role, while hauling in 17 receptions for 188 yards and a score. After being a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft out of LSU and rushing for over 800 yards as a rookie, he has fallen down the depth chart as Isiah Pacheco has emerged as the unquestioned starter at the running back position.
The Chiefs currently have a running back room featuring Pacheco, Samaje Perine and Carson Steele at the position. Perine was signed later in the summer after being released by Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos and is expected to serve as Patrick Mahomes No. 1 target out of the backfield when they open the 2024 season on Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens.
“The opportunity to have a guy in here that can do the run game and the pass game, I just think he’s a good, well-rounded football player that’s extremely intelligent, that is a great addition that (general manager) Brett Veach added to the team,” head coach Andy Reid told reporters on Friday regarding Perine.
