The NFL lockout is back on.

The NFL, after a series of legal setbacks, got a breather Friday when a federal appeals court put the lift of the lockout on hold.

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the league’s request for a temporary stay of the injunction issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who had ordered an end to the 45-day lockout.

The 8th Circuit granted a short stay in order to have time to consider a longer one. The NFL is appealing Nelson’s decision and wants the right to keep the lockout in place while that appeal is being decided.

Jim Quinn, an attorney for the players, said in an email that the stay from the 8th Circuit was “routine and totally expected.”

This mess is on full display as the NFL is going through its annual draft.

The owners created this fiasco by pushing for the lockout, and then the NFLPA raised the stakes by bringing the dispute to court. Now anything can happen.