Players react to Thurman news

The NFL this morning denied the reinstatement application of Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman, who was hoping to return to the field after serving a year-long suspension for violating the league substance abuse policy.

-- Quarterback Carson Palmer: "It's tough. He was a great player for us a couple of years ago He's a good kid that just made some bad decisions. You hope the best for him and hope he can get back on this team or another team and just hope he can stay out of trouble and learn from his mistakes and move on."

-- Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh: "It kind of shocked me. It's like the commissioner's being mean. I don't know. It would have to be something to the effect that Odell did something we don't know about. It would have to be because Odell didn't meet all the requirements."

-- Left tackle Levi Jones: "That's extremely unfortunate, and that's going to hurt our team a lot. I don't know how much coaches were looking at him coming in and contributing, but personally I know all his attributes and all the things he has on the field. It is definitely something we could have used."

-- Defensive end Justin Smith: "It could have hurt us a little bit (missing Thurman in 2006). Odell was definitely a big play-maker, things like that. But we have to have everybody step up. I think Ahmad's (Brooks) up to that challenge."