Herm Edwards stood in a cramped room at the Chiefs&#8217; practice facility Thursday and revealed the latest twist of this season&#8217;s most unpredictable drama.</p><p>Running back Larry Johnson will be inactive for Sunday&#8217;s game against Tennessee, benched because he was late to team meetings and other obligations. Edwards said Johnson had practiced this week as the scout-team running back and that he&#8217;d be one of the Chiefs&#8217; inactive players Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;He knows exactly where I&#8217;m coming from,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;He understands I have to make decisions that reflect my ability to lead this football team.&#8221;</p><p>Edwards said Johnson&#8217;s benching was for violating team rules and was not related to or affected by a simple assault charge stemming from an alleged incident in February. A woman accused Johnson of shoving her at a nightclub during the early-morning hours of Feb. 24. Johnson has a December court appearance.</p><p>His punishment is different from a suspension because he has practiced and will collect a paycheck this week.</p><p>Johnson did not appear in the Chiefs&#8217; locker room Thursday during reporters&#8217; allotted time and has not spoken to the media this week.</p><p>The benching is the most recent incident that has caused Edwards and players to talk about things other than this week&#8217;s game against the Titans, the NFL&#8217;s only remaining unbeaten team. Before Thursday, Edwards had been vague about Johnson&#8217;s status, saying he&#8217;d make a decision on his availability later in the week.</p><p>In the meantime, tight end Tony Gonzalez asked to be traded, was not traded, and subsequently expressed his disappointment with the organization and team president Carl Peterson. Gonzalez held a players-only meeting Wednesday and advised teammates to mind the thorns of playing in the business-driven NFL.</p><p>In between trying to calm the Gonzalez situation, Edwards said only that Johnson had practiced Wednesday. He wouldn&#8217;t directly address whether Johnson, the NFL&#8217;s eighth-leading rusher, would play Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t need to talk about it,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;It creates a competitive disadvantage.&#8221;</p><p>Which the Chiefs likely will have anyway Sunday. Kansas City is 1-4, and in each of its games at least one offensive starter has been out. Quarterback Brodie Croyle separated his shoulder in week one, and then left tackle Branden Albert separated his elbow three weeks ago. Both will return to the lineup this week, in time for one of the Chiefs&#8217; biggest playmakers &#8212; Johnson rushed for a combined 319 yards in weeks three and four &#8212; to watch as another depleted offense tries to keep up.</p><p>&#8220;Almost everybody is back,&#8221; Edwards said.</p><p>Still, the Chiefs have to fill a hole for the sixth consecutive game. Kolby Smith will fill it this time, and rookie Jamaal Charles will share carries with Smith, who started the final six games last year after Johnson broke a bone in his foot.</p><p>Charles was one of several players who said Thursday afternoon they hadn&#8217;t been told Johnson had been benched. Charles said he had noticed Smith had been taking most of the first-team practice snaps. Charles said he was cloudy on the circumstances of Johnson&#8217;s benching but viewed it as an opportunity.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my time to shine,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If somebody goes down, somebody&#8217;s got to step up. I&#8217;ve got to be the one who steps up.&#8221;</p><p>Edwards said he hasn&#8217;t yet given up on Johnson stepping into the leadership role he has tried on a handful of times in his six seasons in Kansas City. Johnson said after signing his big contract last year that he&#8217;d try to fashion himself into a team leader. Then he said in training camp before this season that he had gotten comfortable in an older-brother role for the Chiefs&#8217; young running backs.</p><p>&#8220;Sometimes leadership is really how you come to work and how you prepare,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;He&#8217;s done that for the most part.&#8221;</p><p>But with all the baggage that seems to follow Johnson, viewing him as a team leader has been a difficult sell. Edwards said he hopes that changes, and he hopes Johnson sees being benched as a call to fall back into line.</p><p>&#8220;This is the first time this has happened to him,&#8221; Edwards said, &#8220;and hopefully it&#8217;ll be the last time.&#8221;