Brett Favre praises Chiefs' gesture to pay Clyde Edwards-Helaire amid RB's mental health battle
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is undergoing a currently harrowing episode in his life. He is once again experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder stemming back from when he and his friend killed a would-be robber back when they were teammates at LSU.
That has caused the Kansas City Chiefs to place him on the NFI (non-football illness) list, which they divulged on Monday. Despite not having to, the Chiefs will still pay the running back during his four-game absence - which got the team praise from Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre on Tuesday:
"Good for the Chiefs on this."
Edwards-Helaire spoke up on his mental health struggles in a feature for ESPN last month, describing his experiences as follows:
"Sometimes I'm admitted into the hospital, something like I can't stop throwing up and it's just, I [don't] know [anything] pretty much to stop it.'"
He continued by discussing what he had learned from the episode:
"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.' And you start to realize that that just doesn't happen... 'Hey, no matter the age, no matter the person, no matter the situation, everyone needs help at some point.'"
Chiefs OC Matt Nagy speaks up on Clyde Edwards-Helaire's mental health struggles
Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy also had thoughts on Clyde Edwards-Helaire's absence from practice. He said on Monday:
“We all have different things that we go through, and Clyde is such a special person, a great human being. I think 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 in the building, he’s phenomenal.
“Just being with him today and seeing him, he’s in a good spot. So we want the best for him. I’m sure that’s what will happen.”
In Clyde Edwards-Helaire's absence, the Chiefs are expected to turn towards veteran Samaje Perine to back up burgeoning star Isiah Pacheco at running back.