Seven tumultuous days ago, Larry Johnson walked into the Chiefs locker room with a firm grip on his job. He got himself in further trouble with the team, and a day later was told to go home. </p><p>As the 1-6 Chiefs enter another game week with plenty on their minds, the team will also decide if it would be better off with or without Johnson.</p><p>According to an industry source, the team considered releasing Johnson &mdash; who has a history of misbehavior &mdash; but was cautious of the precedent it might set. The Chiefs didn&rsquo;t want to send the message that, if a player wants out of Kansas City, all he has to do is speak out or act up to get his way.</p><p>The Chiefs have spent most of the past seven days trying to figure out how to react to Johnson&rsquo;s latest bout of poor judgment. He disparaged coach Todd Haley on a Twitter post, insulted some of his Twitter followers for not being rich, and used gay slurs in two separate public instances. </p><p>It&rsquo;s not out of the question that Johnson has played his final game with the Chiefs, and the next week will go a long way toward determining what happens next. Johnson is being watched.</p><p>According to the source, the Chiefs are keeping a close eye on Johnson and how he reacts to his two-week suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. The Chiefs also will be watching Kolby Smith, who runs with a similar style as Johnson but who has missed most of the last year while recovering from a major knee injury. </p><p>Before Johnson is eligible to return next Monday, a day after the Chiefs&rsquo; game at Jacksonville, the team will turn its focus inward and try to answer some pressing questions. None is more pressing than this: What message would releasing Johnson send to the team&rsquo;s other players, who might be divided in their opinions of Johnson but could support him as a fellow member of the players&rsquo; union? </p><p>The Chiefs also face a delicate balance: Weighing the value of perhaps the team&rsquo;s most talented player but also considering that Johnson is a polarizing figure whose words last week at least forced the Chiefs to consider what they&rsquo;d really be losing &mdash; for better or worse &mdash; if they let Johnson go. Now, at least part of the team&rsquo;s decision will fall on Johnson&rsquo;s shoulders. </p><p>&ldquo;How he reacts will tell the Chiefs a lot,&rdquo; the source told The Star. </p><p>Johnson&rsquo;s agent, Peter Schaffer, said this past weekend that Johnson preferred to avoid a grievance hearing against his team and the suspension that Schaffer said was too harsh for using a few offensive words. </p><p>The team suspension originally would have cost Johnson two weeks&rsquo; pay. But the league and the players&rsquo; union pushed along a settlement that kept both sides out of arbitration, cut Johnson&rsquo;s fine in half, and helped the Chiefs avoid a Wednesday hearing that carried a high risk of going against the team.</p><p>Because Johnson&rsquo;s case contained such gray area &mdash; the Chiefs were concerned an arbitrator might look at past instances of a player being fined for making a gay slur, about a $10,000 fine compared with the more than $600,000 fine the Chiefs were levying &mdash; the team was anxious that the entire suspension might be overturned. </p><p>The Chiefs wanted to be aggressive and take a hard stance against Johnson&rsquo;s misdeeds, but, the source said, they also were entering dangerous territory. The arbitrator could see the team&rsquo;s fine as exorbitant and unfair, ruling in favor of Johnson and crippling the message the Chiefs hoped to send. The team again had to strike a balance: What course of action would indicate that Johnson&rsquo;s behavior wouldn&rsquo;t be tolerated but also would protect the Chiefs from having their plan backfire?</p><p>After initially refusing to discuss a settlement, the source said, the team agreed to withhold one game check from Johnson instead of the planned two. </p><p>It&rsquo;ll now cost the running back his $267,000 weekly salary plus the $62,500 bonus he earns for each game he&rsquo;s on the Chiefs&rsquo; active roster. </p><p>As it stands, the Chiefs have made their point, the source said, handing down an aggressive financial punishment for verbal misbehavior, and Johnson&rsquo;s future in Kansas City remains alive &mdash; flickering as it might be.</p><p>A week from now, Johnson will be cleared to return to the Chiefs locker room. His fate could be decided by then.