Court proceedings for the son of Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy have been pushed back while a mental health evaluation takes place first. The delay comes just days after his arrest in connection with a shooting at the family’s Virginia home that left his mother injured.

“Court appearances for Eric Bieniemy’s son delayed pending mental health evaluation,” Pro Football Talk posted on X.

Elijah Bieniemy had been due in court Thursday for a motions hearing, with a preliminary hearing set to follow on August 31. Instead, both dates were continued after Virginia judiciary records showed the case had been put on hold pending a competency evaluation, a procedural step that now determines when, or whether, either hearing happens on its original schedule.

That delay traces directly back to a request from Elijah’s own defense team. CBS affiliate WUSA9 reported that his lawyers told the court he has a prior diagnosis involving a serious mental illness, and that his mental state at the time of the shooting is expected to be central to how his case is argued. His attorneys also told the court he doesn’t have the financial means to pay for an independent mental health expert of his own, which is part of why the evaluation request came through the court rather than privately. The judge granted the defense’s request, meaning a state-ordered evaluation, not a private one arranged by Elijah’s team, will now determine his competency before either hearing resumes.

That single decision has effectively paused the entire case. Nothing else on the court calendar, motions, the preliminary hearing, any potential plea discussions, can move forward until the evaluation is complete and a finding is entered. Loudoun County officials say the underlying investigation remains open and no motive has been made public, but for now, the mental health evaluation itself is the only active piece of the legal process. Officials have also said there’s no ongoing threat to the public while that evaluation proceeds.

The Chiefs, for their part, have kept their public response limited strictly to acknowledging the situation exists.

“The club is aware of the incident involving Eric Bieniemy’s family,” the team said in a statement to 7News. “Out of respect for their privacy, we won’t have a comment at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

That silence from the organization is mirrored by Eric Bieniemy himself, who has not addressed the case publicly and has stayed away from the team throughout, choosing to focus on his family while the evaluation process plays out.

None of this started in the courtroom but rather with a phone call to police the Sunday before.

Why was Eric Bieniemy’s son arrested?

Deputies from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Bieniemy family’s Ashburn, Virginia home, a property the family has held onto since Eric’s coaching days with the Washington Commanders, and found 57-year-old Mia Bieniemy with multiple gunshot wounds. She was hospitalized and listed in stable condition by Monday, later moving out of the ICU as her recovery progressed.

Elijah was arrested that same morning and charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and discharging a firearm inside a dwelling. He’s being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.

At the Chiefs’ training camp, pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier and offensive line coach Andy Heck have picked up most of Bieniemy’s responsibilities, with Andy Reid staying closely involved in the offense himself. Reid has declined to give any timetable for Bieniemy’s return, saying only that he needs to take care of his family first.

With no evaluation date or new hearing date yet made public, the case now sits entirely on the timeline of that competency review, the one factor standing between where things are now and Elijah’s next actual day in court.