Associated Press
CHARLOTTE ó With a new coaching staff and now Cam Newton on board as the No. 1 overall draft pick, perhaps no team would benefit more from an end to the lockout than the Carolina Panthers.
For one day only, Newton and veteran players got to meet with new coach Ron Rivera and collect playbooks before the courts ordered another halt to activities.
ěWe want to play football, we really do,î said center Ryan Kalil, one of about a dozen players spotted at Bank of America Stadium Friday morning. ěItís nice that we finally have a chance to come back in here and talk with some of the coaches and just get the band back together again, you know?î
It didnít last.
After the NFL opened for business at 8 a.m., a federal appeals court in St. Louis late Friday granted the ownersí request to temporarily put on hold U.S. District Judge Susan Nelsonís ruling that lifted the lockout.
The league released a statement saying its attorneys would review the decision and advise clubs on the next steps. But players were bracing for the lockout to resume until the next decision by the three-judge panel next week.
ěLet the vacation resume,î running back Tyrell Sutton wrote on Twitter before adding, ěAt least I got my playbook. Iím ahead of the curve.î
Perhaps it was no surprise Jimmy Clausen was among the first players to arrive at dawn on Friday. Clausenís job as the starting QB is in jeopardy after Carolina selected Newton, the Heisman Trophy-winning former Auburn star, with the first pick a night earlier.
Fellow QBs Tony Pike and Matt Moore, who is unsigned and recovering from a shoulder injury, also showed up.
ěItís a little weird to be back here,î Moore said.
There was no sign of receiver Steve Smith, whose future with the team is uncertain. But others quickly got into a routine in an offseason devoid of it.
Guard Duke Robinson, suspended for the final four games last season for violating the leagueís substance abuse policy, was an early arrival. Linebacker Dan Connor, recovering from a broken hip, was spotted working out in a weight room.
ěItís not just a legal move to get the doors open,î Kalil said. ěItís a place for guys to get treatment, to work out. A lot of guys really do need direction.î
But now players could be barred again from team facilities pending another round of court action.