Chiefs Offense Suffers Huge Blow Before Ravens Game

Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire will miss Thursday's season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

Jan 28, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (25) runs with the ball against Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton (14) during the second half in the AFC Championship football game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs have placed running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the reserve/non-football illness list ahead of Thursday's season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, ESPN's Field Yates reports.

As a result, Edwards-Helaire will not only miss the Ravens game, but at least the first four games of the regular season.

According to Kansas City Chiefs on SI, Edwards-Helaire is listed with an illness on the team's unofficial injury report.

"We're just playing it kind of by ear and how he feels," Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. "He started feeling better the day of the game and then he felt pretty good yesterday, so we're heading in the right direction here. It's a sensitive deal – we're trying to learn as we go here."

Edwards-Helaire, 25, recently opened up about his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a "self-defense" situation in 2018, and how it has caused him to miss practice and even a preseason game this year. The fifth-year pro also shielded a teenager during a shooting at the Chiefs' Super Bowl parade earlier this year, earning him a Heroism award from the Uvalde Foundation for Kids.

"The only person who kind of put me in the right direction was Julie Frymeyer [Chiefs assistant athletic trainer/physical therapist] early on, to get me some of the meds at the time when I am going through an episode to get me over that hump," Edwards-Helaire said. "But it's real, real bad dehydration, dropping weight real fast, but it's really just mentally, just not being there.

"It's one of those things where early on, guys who kind of pay attention — Trav [Travis Kelce], Kadarius [Toney] at times — they'll know ahead of time, like, 'Okay, Clyde's not laughing, he's not giggling, he's not himself, we've just gotta make sure we're checking in on him as the person.'"

A former first-round pick from LSU, Edwards-Helaire has rushed 1,845 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 4.2 yards per attempt throughout his career. He was an impact player earlier on, but he's recently taken a back seat to Isiah Pacheco. In fact, he played just 17 snaps in the AFC Championship Game against the Ravens, and just four snaps in Super Bowl 58.

Regardless of his status as a player, one hopes that Edwards-Helaire gets the help he needs to live his best life.

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