No word yet on Williamses

Vikings defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams were in New York yesterday for their appeals of four-game suspensions, but as of late Friday morning there was no significant news to report on the progress.

Any expectations that the Vikings’ Pat Williams and Kevin Williams would whisk in and out of New York to meet with league officials has officially gone by the boards. Much with the cases of the three Saints players who met with the league office Tuesday, word coming out of New York was that, as of late last night, Kevin Williams was still meeting with the league more than 12 hours after his appeal began and Pat Williams hadn’t even started.

This can be interpreted one of two ways. If your glass is half empty, you may view this as the NFL allowing the players and their representatives to get everything they have to say said and the league will still rule against them. If you’re a glass-half-full person, you may see the long meeting as being a dialogue in which both sides are exchanging viewpoints and points of legality concerning the issue of Bumetanide.

Because of the cloak of secrecy the NFL maintains on such matters, there is little to nothing coming out as to whether Pat Williams’ hearing even began Thursday.

With the Vikings having a late-morning practice, perhaps more information will become available – or at least we will find out if either Kevin or Pat are even back to practice.

The waiting and wondering continues.

FRIDAY NOTES

For a second straight day, Jared Allen didn’t take part in practice while getting treatment for his ailing shoulder. Since suffering the injury against Houston, it has become the M.O. to not have Allen practice Wednesday or Thursday, practice on a limited basis Friday and return for games on Sunday. Vikings fans are hoping that trend will continue this week.

Aside from Allen, four other Vikings didn’t participate in practice. Garrett Mills missed a second straight practice with an ankle injury, Adrian Peterson was given the day off to heal up and the Williamses were in New York meeting with the commissioner’s office.

Four other players were limited in practice – Bobby Wade (thigh), Vinny Ciurciu (hand), Benny Sapp (concussion) and Madieu Williams (shoulder). Wade had missed Wednesday’s practice. The other three were also listed as limited on Wednesday.

Three of the five Jaguars players who did not participate in Wednesday’s practice were back to full participation Thursday – RB Greg Jones (ankle), CB Rashean Mathis (foot) and RB Fred Taylor (neck). Only two players who missed practice Wednesday were also out Thursday – CB Omare Lowe (knee) and budding UFC star Troy Williamson (groin). DT John Henderson went from limited participation to full participation with a knee injury, while WR Matt Jones went from full participation to a limited role with a thigh injury.

There is talk that if the NFL is looking to relocate a team to Los Angeles, the Jaguars might be the top candidate. The team has had extreme difficulty selling out games even when playing well – to the point that the organization eliminated some of the seating in the stadium so as to avoid blackouts.

The NFL fine police usually do their business on Friday, so don’t be surprised to see Vikings DE Ray Edwards slapped with a significant fine for a clearly late hit on Bucs QB Jeff Garcia last week. Even in slow motion and high-def, the hit seems extremely late and, considering it busted open Garcia’s chin, it won’t slip by the league.

There is talk that the Vikings might make a move in the kick-return game following Maurice Hicks’ critical fumble last Sunday at Tampa Bay. Chester Taylor and Aundrae Allison are options.