The NFL told the St. Louis Rams that new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels could not meet with players, notably QB Sam Bradford, in February, according to Pete King at SI.com. The Rams asked for clarification but the league explained that they couldn't do anything that they wouldn't ordinarily do, which meant no meetings until March. That's significant because with the lockout scheduled to begin on March 4, it means that Bradford and McDaniels may not get a chance to talk about the new playbook for a long, long time.
There's always that chance that the two sides will get closer together via mediation. They might even push back the deadline from March 4...we might also have peace in the Middle East by then too. It's not likely.
Media, players and representatives from the teams at the Combine were pretty convivial with one another. It was genuinely a good atmosphere; however, a very dark subtext ran through the whole affair because nobody seemed remotely optimistic about the CBA getting done. The most Pollyana-ish take on it that I heard was Labor Day. That would give Bradford and McDaniels about, oh, a week to install a new offense. Bradford's a talented kid, and both Billy Devaney and Pat Shurmur were pretty confident in his ability to learn a new system. But one week's a stretch for anyone.