KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Once again, the injury-ravaged Kansas City Chiefs are scouring the landscape for usable, unemployed professional football players.

They're in the market for linebackers and cornerbacks. A safety would also be nice. Recent experience is preferable but not mandatory.

"You could see some new Chiefs on the horizon," head coach Herm Edwards said Tuesday, trying his best to keep a happy face. "They could be here. We'll look at this list again this afternoon, and we'll decide what we have to do."

Edwards said linebackers Derrick Johnson and Pat Thomas, guard Adrian Jones and defensive end Brian Johnston are all out for this week's game against New Orleans. Questionable are defensive ends Tamba Hali and Turk McBride, cornerbacks Patrick Surtain and Brandon Flowers, safety DaJuan Morgan and running back Jamaal Charles.

Ray Farmer, the team's director of pro personnel, is in charge of locating and signing players and has become one of the most important men in the entire organization. He was busy last week, signing a defensive end and two cornerbacks off the street who all played in Sunday's 20-19 loss to San Diego.

A few weeks ago, Farmer signed Rocky Boiman, a linebacker who — like all the other recent signees — had been out of football.

The injury bug has been biting Kansas City (1-8) all year. The Chiefs' top two quarterbacks both went out for the season in the same game. Two weeks ago, running back Kolby Smith sustained a season-ending knee injury.

With so many new players unfamiliar with Kansas City's system and terminology, practice must be curtailed. Also, there aren't as many good players for the starters to practice against. As practice is curtailed, so are plays and formations used in real games.

"When a guy goes in a game, you say scale it down, you basically scale it down for that guy when he's in the game," said Edwards. "You do things in practice that you know that he's capable of handling."

A big problem is communication.

"Guy comes in, comes from a different system, all of a sudden, it's different now than it would be the first or second game of the season because most of these guys were in training camp," Edwards said.

"The problem is now if they haven't been on a team and they got cut, they've been out of football for 10 weeks. So now you're bringing in a guy — you don't know where he's at, you don't know if he's in condition. You're hoping he is. But he's not in football shape cause he hasn't played football."

No one was more put-upon last week than reserve safety Jon McGraw. Normally used almost exclusively on special teams, McGraw found himself lining up at nickel back, cornerback and safety.

"He had to play all three positions according to what the personnel groups were. So he was the one with the mental burden on him," said Edwards. "And he did a good job. I thought he did a really good job."

Special teams are also weakened.

"All of a sudden special teams becomes a big deal because you're mixing and matching players," Edwards said. "That's what you've got to realize when you bring these guys in."

One healthy and well-rested "newcomer" this week will be familiar to everyone in Arrowhead Stadium. Larry Johnson, the troubled two-time Pro Bowler, is back after being benched for three games and suspended by the league for one.

"You would think a guy like that, he's in condition. He's been working out," said Edwards. "Now, he hasn't played football in a month. He'll have fresh legs. The thing he's going to have to get used to is getting hit. That's the first thing, a guy hasn't been hit. Now, in practice he'll be hit a little bit. That helps some."

Exactly what role Johnson will have in an offense that has been reconfigured to suit quarterback Tyler Thigpen has not been defined. Edwards wouldn't even say if Johnson would start against the Saints. But with Charles hobbled by a sore ankle and Smith gone for the year, it seems almost certain that Johnson, if he has stayed in shape, will be heavily relied upon.

"He's going to be in the mix with our offense. That's how we're kind of running it right now, and that's how we're going to continue to run it," Edwards said.