The Kansas City Chiefs will be without running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire for at least the first four weeks of the season after placing him on the non-football illness (NFI) list, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Edwards-Helaire, 25, missed several practices and preseason games, due to what the team officially designated as an illness. The former first-round pick revealed the condition to be a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that stems from his time at LSU, when he was one of two players involved in a fatal self-defense shooting.
“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 of his condition earlier this summer. “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.'”
With Edwards-Helaire on the NFI list, the Chiefs traded for veteran back Samaje Perine to complete starter Isiah Pacheco. The Chiefs have undrafted rookie Carson Steele, who starred as a fullback in the preseason, on the active roster.
The Chiefs open the season on Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens and follow it up with games against Bengals, Falcons and Chargers. Edwards-Helaire can return to the team for their Week 5 game against the New Orleans Saints.
