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Great news for Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints fans. Maybe.

A federal judge has blocked the suspensions of five players, including Vikings Pro Bowl defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams. The five were banned for the last four games of the NFL regular season after testing positive for a banned diuretic over the summer and eventually having their appeals heard and denied.

The legal process started Wednesday, when the Williamses (not related) took their case to a district court in Minneapolis. There they convinced a judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the suspensions and allowing the two to return to practice.

Both tackles have returned to practice, and actually were at the Vikings' facility Friday instead of at the hearing over this latest legal action.

Thursday, the NFL Players' Association sued on behalf of the Williamses and the three affected Saints players, which include defensive linemen Charles Grant and Will Smith, along with running back Deuce McAllister.

As expected, the NFL Players Association has filed suit in federal court asking that suspensions of six players be overturned.

From the Associated Press story via Access Vikings:

The NFL Players Association is suing to block five of the six player suspenions for violating the league's anti-doping policy. The suit field in federal court is on behalf of Kevin and Pat Williams of the Vikings and Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister and Will Smith of the New Orleans Saints. The five players were suspended for testing positive for a banned diuretic that can be used as a masking agent for steroids. The diuretic was in a supplement that did not list the diuretic as an ingredient.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports the union is going to ask for a ruling by Friday, meaning that the involved teams are left twisting in the wind regarding the availability of their players.

Houston's Bryan Pittman isn't included in this lawsuit.

This filing comes less than 24 hours after a Twin Cities judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the suspensions of the two involved Vikings.

KSTP-TV in Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Star Tribune (via PFT) are reporting an off-field victory for the Minnesota Vikings.

Hennepin County District Court Judge Gary Larson has granted a temporary restraining order against the NFL. The order effectively halts the four-game suspensions against defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams for the use of a banned diuretic. The two took their situation to court Wednesday after the NFL announced their suspensions some 24 hours earlier.

While this ruling does allow both players to return to the Vikings' practice facility in Eden Prairie, it doesn't lock them into being available for Sunday's game against the awesome winless Detroit Lions. According to both Twin Cities reports, Larson is going to schedule a more extensive hearing for the next few days, and the NFL could conceivably appeal the judge's order.

So far, there has been no word of any attempts by the other four suspended players to take similar action.

The Vikings signed sixth-year pro Jimmy Kennedy Wednesday, conceivably to fill the shoes of one Williams.

The NFL Tuesday suspended six players, including Vikings defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams, for taking a banned diuretic.

Normally, suspended players go quietly into the, well, wherever suspended players go to quietly serve their time.

This is likely to be an exception to that rule.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen, live on television Wednesday morning, indicated that a filing was coming, and he made it sound like all six suspended players would be filing for injunctions.

A long, arduous process could end as soon as today for the Minnesota Vikings.

We learned a few weeks back that defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams (not related) had each tested positive for a banned substance. Both players appealed their suspensions, and those appeals were heard a bit less than two weeks ago.

The two have continued to play as the process played itself out, but that could be about to end. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune cites a Fox Sports report that the suspensions could be finalized today.

Of course, we're not necessarily done with this once that happens. The report also states that the players are prepared to take legal action, based on the notion that the NFL knew of the illegal substance but didn't bother to tell any of the players.

Oh, and they didn't answer the phone when the players wanted to ask. That, too.

Give Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards credit. At least he understands that his hit on Buccaneers' quarterback Jeff Garcia last Sunday wasn't right and probably deserved a punishment.

However, that was only half the reason for his $25,000 fine from the NFL. Edwards doesn't really like the other reason he was fined. The NFL got him for a leg whip on an offensive lineman in the same game. Edwards spoke out Monday, and he didn't hide his anger much.

"We signed up to play this game," he said. "Football didn't choose us, we chose it. No offense to women but men don't wear panties. We chose to play this game. We don't cry when we get cracked unexpectedly. That fine is what it is. Just got to go out there and play ball and have fun.

"I appealed it. That's ridiculous. One is a leg-whip, which I've never heard of. OK, I can respect the first one. I hit Garcia a little late. Even during that play I told him, 'My bad. I thought you still had the ball.' He was running around like a rabbit so I didn't know if he had the ball still or not."

Hey, at least he understands that men aren't supposed to wear panties.

I didn't see the leg whip, so I can't vouch for the NFL or for Edwards. However, I do think he got off easy for the Garcia hit. He can claim until he's blue in the face that he thought Garcia still had the ball, and coach Brad Childress can claim all he wants that Garcia should have been called for intentional grounding, but Edwards took three steps and plowed into Garcia. There is no excuse for that in today's "be extra cautious around quarterbacks" NFL.