Goodell: Thurman decision before camp

INDIANAPOLIS -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said just a few minutes ago that a decision of suspended Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman would be made before the start of training camp, which opens in July.

The NFL allowed Thurman, suspended for the past two years, basically, for repeated violations of the league substance abuse policy, to begin working out last month at Paul Brown Stadium with his teammates and meeting with coaches.

"What we wanted to do was get him back in a structured environment," Goodell said on the eve of the NFL combine here. "He's in the program. He can make progress. If he can do that, we will make a decision prior to training camp."

Goodell had emerged from a private meeting with NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. The annual NFL scouting combine starts Thursday, but league business was in full swing today.