Minnesota Vikings defensive linemen Kevin and Pat Williams met with NFL officials Monday to appeal their suspensions after testing positive for a weight-loss diuretic considered a masking agent for steroids.

Photo by Bill Haber / The Associated Press

Deuce McAllister (26) dives over several San Francisco 49ers during the Saints 31-17 win earlier this season. McAllister finished with 73 yards in his first game back since tearing the ACL in his left knee during the 2007 season.

The NFL will hear the appeals later this week. Additional appeals will be heard on Tuesday for three New Orleans Saints: running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith.

All are subject to four-game suspensions. There is no indication when the NFL's decision will be announced.

The league estimates that six to eight players have been identified as testing positive for the banned substance Bumetanide. It is contained in an over-the-counter weight-loss pill called StarCaps the players apparently took.

The makers of StarCaps have suspended shipments of the product after allegations it contains the banned substance, which the manufacturers do not list as an ingredient.

One of the grounds for the players' appeal was that they simply were taking the product to reach prescribed weight standards. However, the NFL policy states: "The use of so-called 'blocking' or 'masking' agents is prohibited by this policy. These include diuretics or water pills, which have been used in the past by some players to reach an assigned weight. Players are responsible for what is in their bodies."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)