Why isn’t Clyde Edwards-Helaire playing for Chiefs against Ravens in Thursday Night Football?

The Kansas City Chiefs will take to the field for their first meaningful game since their Super Bowl LVIII victory seven months ago. They’re hoping to become the first NFL team to be three-peat Super Bowl winners this year. That all begins with their Week 1 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium tonight.

Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they’ll have to do so without starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, at least for the first four games.

Edwards-Helaire out due to PTSD

The Chiefs placed Edwards-Helaire on the non-football illness (NFI) list to start the regular season, so he is obligated to sit out for the first four games of the season. The illness he’s dealing with is post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Edwards-Helaire suffers from this disorder due to an incident that occurred nearly six years ago during his time at LSU when he was involved in a fatal self-defense shooting. He and a friend, Jared Small, had tried to sell an electronic item when one of them shot and killed an 18-year-old male who tried to rob them. Officials never named who the shooter was, but cleared both Edwards-Helaire and Small of charges.

The fallout from that traumatic event and other difficult situations that have happened in Edwards-Helaire’s life, like losing close friends to gun violence from a young age, have caused him to suffer from severe mental stress as well as physical effects like vomiting.

“My first couple of years, you just try to block everything out and it’s like, ‘Oh, at some point I’m going to get over it,’” Edwards-Helaire said. “And you start to realize that that just doesn’t happen. You get older and you realize, ‘Hey, no matter the age, no matter the person, no matter the situation, everyone needs help at some point.’”

The effects from the trauma caused Edwards-Helaire to miss time at training camp, the preseason, and now the start of the regular season. Fortunately, the Chiefs staff and his teammates are extremely understanding of his situation.

“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,” said offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. “Because when he’s in the building, he’s phenomenal. So that’s number one, and then the other stuff all takes care of itself.”

“We all have different things that we go through and Clyde is such a special person. He’s a great human being.”

Despite the fact that the Chiefs are not obligated to pay Edwards-Helaire from Week 1 to Week 4 while he’s on the NFI list, they still plan to pay him fully while he’s away from the team and healing.

Edwards-Helaire will be eligible to return in Week 5 on October 7, when the Chiefs face the New Orleans Saints at home. Until then, starting rusher Isaiah Pacheco will be backed by Chiefs’ new veteran reserve Samaje Perine and undrafted rookie Carson Steele.