FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Since playing in his fourth straight Pro Bowl six months ago, Alge Crumpler hasn't exactly enjoyed football.
Crumpler, the Atlanta Falcons' No. 1 tight end since the start of his second season in 2002, sought an opinion from another specialist last week to find out why his left knee still aches.
"That is true, yes, but I don't want to talk about it," Crumpler said on Monday. "I don't want my name in the paper right now."
New Falcons coach Bobby Petrino has seen Crumpler practice only occasionally in training camp and rarely at full strength.
Crumpler, who led Atlanta in receiving during each of the last two years, missed the team's first two mini-camps after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on April 6, but plans for an increased summer workload keep getting delayed.
"It's been frustrating for him," Petrino said. "He came out, felt pretty good for a while, then came back and some of the pain was back again."
Petrino indicated that results of Crumpler's MRI were promising.
"They did everything they needed to know what's going on," Petrino said. "He actually was encouraged. It shows a lot of healing. It shows things are going well. They just think he needs a little bit more time."
The slow recovery means that Crumpler is all but certain not to play when Atlanta visits the New York Jets in each team's preseason opener on Friday night.
Because the Falcons are working on their third different offense in six years, Crumpler wanted to help his team maintain some identity following the federal indictment that quarterback Michael Vick faces in Virginia for dogfighting.
Atlanta has known since July 23, when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell barred Vick from camp, that Joey Harrington would start the season, and perhaps all of 2007, at quarterback.
But the Falcons are also without running back Warrick Dunn, their leading rusher in four of the last five years, which means that Petrino needs No. 2 tailback Jerious Norwood and the receiving tandem of Joe Horn, Michael Jenkins and Roddy White to stay healthy.
Trainers cleared Dunn recently to resume running, but he likely won't return to the field until the fourth preseason game.
Crumpler's situation, compared to Dunn's, might seem more tedious for the Falcons, who would rely on Dwayne Blakley to fill the starter's role, with rookie Martrez Milner and Daniel Fells to take the remaining snaps.
Blakley has experience, even though most of it has come on special teams during his three years as Crumpler's backup. In 47 career games, Blakley made six starts and caught 14 passes for 141 yards and one touchdown.
"They say, 'Go line up,' and I just go play," Blakley said. "That's the attitude that I have. I do what I'm coached to do."
Milner, a fourth-round pick from Georgia, would make the team over Fells if the regular season started this week, but neither has game experience.
And though Blakley gives the Falcons a proven alternate while Crumpler recovers, Petrino has seen enough film of Atlanta's No. 1 tight end to realize his talent.
"We knew he had to battle that, and we were hoping that it would go a little smoother than it did," Petrino said. "When it feels better, he'll get out and get to go again. They think right now the best thing for it is to give it about a week's rest. Hopefully that will take care of it and he'll be good to go."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
