Kansas City, Mo. ? Kansas City’s simmering Trent Green-vs.-Damon Huard situation exploded into a full-blown quarterback controversy Tuesday, with even the team president asking reporters to drop the subject.

Coach Herm Edwards, after saying for weeks Green would go back to starting as soon as he recovered from head trauma, appeared to backtrack.

“The one thing you can never count out is chemistry on your football team, and that is very important,” Edwards said at his weekly news luncheon.

Huard’s excellent play – 11 touchdown passes and only one interception in seven starts – has split fans on which quarterback should start when Green gets back, possibly on Nov. 19 against Oakland.

Radio sportstalk shows have been abuzz with pro-Huard and pro-Green callers. The Kansas City Star on Tuesday conducted an election-type reader poll as to which quarterback the Chiefs should go with.

“At this point, I don’t have to make that decision,” Edwards said. “It will be a decision I’ll make.”

Sunday, after Huard led the Chiefs to a 31-17 victory over St. Louis, Edwards was asked if Green would start when he’s healthy.

“Yes,” the coach said then, echoing a sentiment he had expressed numerous times.

But he denied Tuesday that his new stance indicated a possible change of heart.

“No, I’m not waffling. What I don’t want to talk about (is) a decision I don’t have to make in this point in time because that’s not important,” he said.

“Trent’s not playing this week. Damon Huard is the starting quarterback.”

Tension thickened when general manager Carl Peterson, sitting as he usually does in the back of the room during the Tuesday news briefing, told reporters to drop the line of questioning.

When they didn’t, he laughed nervously.

“This question is ad nauseam,” Peterson said.

Huard had not started an NFL game for six years when Green, a two-time Pro Bowler who had made 81 consecutive starts, went down in the season opener Sept. 10 because of a severe concussion.

Since then, Huard is 5-2 as a starter with a highly impressive quarterback rating of 105.2, second only to Peyton Manning.

He has hit 131 of 203 passes for 1,623 yards, with 11 touchdowns and only one interception. Working behind a weakened, patchwork offensive line, he has saved Edwards’ first season in Kansas City and won over the support of a big segment of fans.

Green, on the other hand, is a five-year starter and esteemed team leader.

With Green at the controls, the Chiefs have had one of the NFL’s most productive offenses the past five seasons, setting a number of league records. Green had more yards passing (20,117) and touchdowns (111) from 2001-05 than any other NFL quarterback except Manning.

Knocked unconscious and carted off the field on a gurney, Green has been working his way back very slowly. He was in uniform in St. Louis for the first time, but Edwards had said he would not play.

“What I don’t want to get caught into … every week we win a game and every week Trent’s out, we’re going to keep asking the question,” Edwards said. “Well, it’s not about Trent right now. It’s about the football team. That’s all that matters.”

Peterson denied Edwards was exhibiting a change of heart.

“I think his point was, ‘I don’t need to discuss making a decision today that doesn’t need to be made today.’ That’s really what he said.”