CLEVELAND -- Browns receiver Josh Cribbs told the Plain Dealer Monday that he and several other players will go to the team facility in Berea Tueday morning now that the lockout has been lifted by Judge Susan Nelson.
"We're going to go to work tomorrow to see if they'll let us in the building at 10 a.m. to test the waters al ittle bit,'' said Cribbs in a text.
Browns President Mike Holmgren said Monday night at the National Football Foundation banquet that he was happy the lockout was lifted. He said the Browns facility is always open. Asked if he though players would show up, he said, "we'll see.''
The NFL Owners are appealing the ruling and are confident a stay of the lockout will be ordered.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the Associated Press in an email: "If a player comes to the facility, he'll be treated with courtesy and respect.''
Although players will be let in, they might not be permitted to use the weight room, ESPN's Adam Schefter said.
The NFLPA emailed players Monday night suggesting they report to work on Tuesday. Most of the Browns players are not in town, but some of the ones who are will show up to try to work out, including tight end Ben Watson. Some of them will try do so in part to receive their bonuses for participating in the offseason workouts.
Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, who was an executive board member of the players union before it disbanded, said he received a flood of calls and emails from teammates asking if they should return to work. "Basically, I told them: 'I don't see why not,' " he said in an email late Monday.
Fujita -- who is not in town and won't be reporting -- added that, "Unless and until the judge issues an order for a stay (delay of the injunction), the teams will be in violation of Judge Nelson's order if they don't allow access."
Cribbs and about a dozen other offensive players just returned from Camp Colt, a "minicamp'' organized by Colt McCoy in Austin, Texas,
If the stay is not granted, the NFL must immediately resume business in some fashion. It means a frenzied free agency period could begin on the eve of the draft, which is Thursday through Saturday.
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