ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -- After three days of being turned away, Lorenzo Alexander was finally allowed into the Washington Redskins weight room.

Alexander was among at least 11 Redskins who arrived Friday morning for a workout as the NFL allowed its teams to resume some basic football operations.

"It was good to be able to go inside, work out with some of the guys," Alexander said.

Alexander had showed up daily since a Minnesota judge lifted the NFL lockout earlier this week. Each time he was politely told the weight room was off limits while the team awaited more instructions from the league.

Now he thought the doors would be open for good.

"So far, all the judges have been ruling in our favor, so I don't see no reason why that should change, but who knows?" Alexander said. "Everybody can interpret the same facts differently, but I'm very confident it will still remain in our favor."

It turns out his was confidence was misplaced. A federal appeals court in St. Louis put the lockout back in place late Friday, at least temporarily.

During the time the players were welcome, familiar names such as DeAngelo Hall, Kedric Golston, Graham Gano, Macho Harris, Chris Horton and Will Montgomery joined Alexander in making their way past the security gate, but there was also Selvish Capers, a 2010 seventh-round draft pick who spent last season on the practice squad.

Being able to use the team's facilities for free is important for players such as Capers, who hasn't earned a big salary and had to watch his finances during the lockout.

"It felt great, just coming back into home, I guess you could say," Capers said. "We didn't really do much today. Everything's kind of at your own pace today. Everybody's getting back in the swing of things."

Players said that more formal, structured workouts would begin Monday. Alexander said the spring practices - formally called organized team activities - will begin in a few weeks.

But that was all put on hold by the courts later in the day.