The MRI results from quarterback Robert Irvin's ailing shoulder aren't expected until today, but the Quakers won't be calling his number for the rest of the 2007 season.

And although Irvin is a junior, they might be calling it in 2009.

Irvin said yesterday that his shoulder, which he had surgery on over the summer, has not improved in the last several weeks. Since the consensus is that his rehabilitation will take a long time, Irvin has been shut down with an eye towards returning him for a ninth semester of school - and another year of football.

"Robert's not right," head coach Al Bagnoli said yesterday. "If we can't practice him this year, which we'll know hopefully by [today,] then obviously [we want] to try to recapture the year."

"If we can't get him right, that's gonna be our plan. We'll try to get him and see if we can get him back for two years."

Most Division-I conferences do not require that four years of football eligibility be used consecutively, making it easier for students to return for a fifth season. But the Ivy League only permits such an extension if the interruption was caused by medical hardship or another factor beyond control.

Irvin could fall in the former category since he has only played in two games, out of the 10 that Penn will play this year. Once an athlete has appeared in 25 percent of a season's games, or plays beyond the season's first half, eligibility for that year is considered spent.

Still, balancing his desire to play and his need to get healthy isn't easy for Irvin.

"I don't want to have to go through surgery, rehab," he said. "It's a long process, and you can't throw for like five months."

Still, the many rounds of tests he has undergone recently could make the rehabilitation process look less formidable.

Then again, they might make it look worse if they reveal anything new.

"Hopefully nothing else has happened," Bagnoli said.

Brendan McNally, a sophomore who saw action briefly against the Hoyas, will back up senior Bryan Walker, the Quakers' starter.

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