NFL Players Association player representatives gave DeMaurice Smith and the executive committee a "vote of confidence" to finish the remaining deal points in the proposed collective bargaining agreement, a source told ESPN on Wednesday, adding that the committee planned to work late into the night to try to resolve issues.

Part of the holdup in taking a vote on the proposed CBA, the source said, was that the player reps did not have a final document to review. The vote, which could take place by conference call or remote communication, did not happen Wednesday, a source said.

Earlier Wednesday, a source, who seemed upbeat, suggested the vote could happen Thursday.

Smith, however, hedged on whether the players would vote Thursday before owners are scheduled to meet in Atlanta and hold their own vote on the proposed deal.

"I know everyone wants to be an expert and say they know exactly what's going on behind closed doors and when this is going to happen," Smith told ESPN on Wednesday night. "Both sides know where they stand. Both sides continue to work very intensively, as we have for several weeks. I'm not into the prediction business and I'm not about to get into details, but their side knows what our deal is and, again, we know where they stand."

With negotiations reaching a crucial point, Smith said he received words of encouragement late Tuesday from former Major League Baseball union leader Marvin Miller.

"He reminded me that [labor negotiations] are always a tremendous amount of work and it should be that way until you reach a proper conclusion," Smith told ESPN.

The head of the NFLPA said he planned to work through the night by phone with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the appropriate negotiators.

Jeff Pash, general counsel for the NFL, said Wednesday that the proposed 10-year settlement will take time to close but that he believes the parties are close.

"It's obviously a complicated agreement, but I think both sides are at the point where they can close, they should close and we should be in a position to take votes," Pash, the league's lead negotiator, said after the owners' labor committee held a five-hour session at a hotel near Atlanta's airport.

Goodell joined the meeting of nine of the 10 members of the labor committee, which hoped to recommend a finalized proposal to all club owners, who are meeting Thursday.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio that the owners will meet as scheduled Thursday, regardless of whether the players vote, and decide then on the next course of action.