Duckett must prove he's healthy

FLOWERY BRANCH - If T.J. Duckett wants to be in uniform Saturday night at Green Bay, the Atlanta Falcons' rookie running back must prove his injuries aren't as bad as they look to coach Dan Reeves.

``T.J. has really got to show me in practice and in the pregame that he's ready to go,'' Reeves said Monday. ``I don't see that explosiveness right now that he had before that ankle was hurt, and that's going to be important this week for whether he's even active or not. He's got to run full-speed in practices and show me that thing is not bothering him.''

Reeves insisted he has no problem with the effort of Duckett, who ran one time for no gain in a 24-16 loss at Cleveland Sunday.

``I'm questioning his ability, physically, to do the job,'' Reeves said.

Reporters have approached Duckett several times to ask about the condition of his right knee, which he sprained in a Week 14 loss at Tampa Bay, and the former Michigan State star has never indicated he's in serious pain. Fluid was drained from the knee after he ran twice for just nine yards and didn't play in the second half of a Week 15 loss to Seattle.

Duckett walks with no discernible limp, and he hasn't practiced or played with any protective gear on his knee. He was inactive for Atlanta's only win in the last four weeks as the Falcons beat Detroit.

``I don't think he can cut, and a running back that can't cut I don't care how big you are that makes it difficult,'' Reeves said. ``If those movements can't be where they're a reaction instead of a plan, then you're going to be very ineffective.''

In 130 attempts, Duckett has 507 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 45.5 yards in his first six games and 56.3 in his next four, a stretch in which he also sprained his left ankle and tore connective tissue in the arch of his right foot.

His injuries and ineffectiveness coincided with Warrick Dunn's turnaround. After going four straight games of 18 yards or worse, Dunn averaged over 94 in eight of his next nine games. Dunn's lone exception, a 14-yard, five-carry performance at Minnesota, was due to a sprained ankle that kept him out of the second Tampa Bay game.

Though he was too hurt to contribute, Duckett nevertheless stood in stark contrast to Browns running back William Green, who ran for two touchdowns and 178 yards. Two picks after Cleveland chose Green out of Boston College, the Falcons drafted Duckett No. 18 overall.

BAD TIMING: All players who didn't need medical treatment were given Monday off. The others, including right guard Kynan Forney, spent a few hours at team headquarters.

Before getting his right shoulder massaged, Forney approached Reeves and apologized for an unnecessary roughness penalty that helped set up Green's 64-yard touchdown run in the fourth. Forney admitted getting carried away in an attempt to defend quarterback Michael Vick, who had fallen outside the Browns sideline.

``Kynan knows he was wrong,'' Reeves said. ``He made a mistake and hopefully that'll never happen again.''

TOUGH BREAKS: Reeves sometimes wonders why he bothers to challenge a ruling on the field. Two went against the Falcons Sunday, including an 11-yard pass to tight end Alge Crumpler that could have given Atlanta a touchdown right before halftime.

The Falcons have lost 22 of the last 26 calls challenged on their behalf.

``If anything, the league has to discuss what instant replay is really about,'' Reeves said. ``If replay is only going to be a tool that corrects plays that everybody even a drunk in the bar knows is going to be changed, then why do you have replay?

``My interpretation of what replay is supposed to do is it's supposed to make those tough calls that happen in an instant and a guy has got to call what he sees. In my opinion, what we're doing right now is justifying what they call on the field. And if they're close, they're going to take whatever is close. And if close is what we want, then replay is doing a heck of a job being close. Personally, I would like to see replay make the tough calls, to take the tough calls off the officials."