Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank speaks during a news conference to discuss his position on the federal indictment of quarterback Michael Vick. Blank said Tuesday in Atlanta the team wanted to suspend Vick for four games but was told to delay the penalty until the NFL completes its probe.

Atlanta ? The Atlanta Falcons wanted to suspend Michael Vick. And considering the appalling allegations against their star quarterback, they may not want him back at all.

Under an edict from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Vick is barred from taking part in training camp while the league investigates a federal dogfighting indictment against one of its most prominent players.

The Falcons revealed Tuesday they wanted to give Vick a four-game suspension – the maximum a team can impose – until Goodell asked them to hold off. He wants to take a further look at the charges issued last week and can dole out stiffer penalties under a new personal conduct policy.

“This sort of behavior is really horrific,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in the team’s first public comment since Vick was indicted. “This is certainly not the player or the person that I knew the last six years.”

The Falcons said they considered all options – releasing Vick among them – and seemed to signal he will miss at least a fourth of the season even if Goodell doesn’t impose his own sanctions.

Most tellingly, Blank said he would encourage Vick to give up any thoughts of playing while the case is pending – even if it means sitting out the entire season. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Richmond, Va., on Thursday, the same day the Falcons open training camp.

“This is not about playing football in 2007,” said Blank, joined at a news conference by general manager Rich McKay and new coach Bobby Petrino. “This is a very difficult process he’ll be going through over the next couple of months. It’s very difficult to do that and focus on football at the same time.”

Goodell weighed in on Vick’s case during a news conference with NFL Players Association chief Gene Upshaw in Washington, where the two discussed an alliance to help former players.

“Let me make it very clear that the National Football League is very disappointed that Michael put himself in this position,” Goodell said. “In no way do we think that dogfighting or anything related to dogfighting is acceptable. We think it’s despicable, frankly.”

As for why he blocked an immediate suspension against Vick, Goodell said the league needed more time to investigate.

“We’re looking at this from the long term,” he said. “We understand how our fans are reacting to this. It is very emotional for all of us. But we have to remember that we are still at a state where these are charges. These are allegations.”

Under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, a team can impose a four-game suspension for detrimental conduct. The league’s new conduct policy allows Goodell to hand down harsher penalties.

“Prior to this, we were pursuing the maximum discipline, which is a four-game suspension,” Blank said. “We had gone so far as to draft the letter. But the commissioner asked us not to take action until they completed their review.”

Clearly, the Falcons did not want to begin training camp with a quarterback who was under federal indictment, even though he led them to the NFC championship game during the 2004 season and last year became the first quarterback in league history to rush for 1,000 yards.

“There is certainly a reasonable potential that he’s going to miss part – a significant part – of the regular season,” Blank said.

In April, investigators raiding a home owned by Vick in rural Virginia allegedly found evidence of dogfighting, include dozens of pit bulls, bloodstained carpeting, treadmills rigged up for training, veterinary supplies and “breaking sticks” used to pry a dog’s jaw apart.

At first, Vick denied any connection to the house, saying he never lived there and rarely visited. He blamed friends and family members for taking advantage of his generosity, an explanation that he apparently gave Goodell when the two held an impromptu meeting in New York during the draft.

Since then, Vick has denied any comment on the case.