AI Character Slides Forward Before Animation Starts

I have a very strange situation where if I play in simulated mode (PIE), everything works fine. When I actually “play” the AI character slides forward and then begins its animation, which plays fine. In addition to Simulate, if I choose Stand-Alone game, it also works fine. Has anyone ever heard of this behaviour before? The animation is using root motion, so it’s likely there that I have my problem. The fact that it’s not consistent, however, is strange Thanks.

same problem in sequence editor