UPDATE 8:01 p.m.: According to the Associated Press, Goodell and Smith were on a plane to Florida on Tuesday evening, where they planned to speak to rookies Wednesday at the union's symposium before heading back to Minneapolis to continue negotiations.  UPDATE 12:12 p.m.: NFL Network is reporting that this week's meetings will be between NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, decertified NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and their respective staffs. Owners and players are not expected to attend.  NFL officials, owners and players met Tuesday in Minnesota in their latest round of negotiations toward -- hopefully -- a new collective bargaining agreement and end to the lockout according to NFL Network.  ESPN's Chris Mortensen has chimed in to tweet this session is expected to run through Friday.  Members of the decertified players union were in Minnesota yesterday according to The Associated Press; ProFootballTalk says they were huddling with NFLPA lawyers who are "hoping to persuade the players not to roll over in talks with the owners."  ISSUES: What's on the agenda  Could that be another sign that momentum toward a deal is being lost?  After reporting last week that a deal was "within striking distance," NFLN correspondent Albert Breer was recently told by an anonymous NFL executive that "There are enough legitimate issues to where it could all fall down still."  "It's not about getting a deal done as quickly as possible," said Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans on Monday, "it's about getting a fair deal done. Whenever that time comes, when a fair deal is on the table, that's when it will get done. We're not in a big panic to get something done, just for the sake of getting it done."  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
Goodell, Smith meet alone as league, players resume talks - The Huddle: Football News from the NFL - USATODAY.com