ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Rams starting linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar was suspended Wednesday for four games for violating the NFLs policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Dunbar, who was second on the team with a career-high 157 tackles last season, is able to participate in all team activities prior to the suspension, which begins with the season-opening game against Arizona. He will be able to practice and play in all exhibition contests prior to the opener. Dunbar did not take questions from reporters Wednesday but issued a 41-second statement. He appeared emotional as he walked away following the comments. "I just want to say that I did not take a performance enhancing drug," Dunbar said. "I mistakenly took something that prompted a failed drug test." The 27-year-old Dunbar also will miss games against Atlanta, Dallas and San Francisco. He eligible to return on Sept. 27. "I sincerely apologize to my teammates (and) the organization," he said. "I am deeply saddened by this. But I plan to serve my four-game suspension and get back to playing football as soon as possible." The 6-foot, 235-pound Dunbar is the second St. Louis player suspended by the league this season. Running back Isaiah Pead will miss the opening game for a violation of the substance abuse policy. Dunbar, who signed with the Rams on April 2, 2012, started all 16 games last season. He led the team in tackles for loss (23) and recorded 4.5 sacks. Veteran linebacker Will Witherspoon is in line to replace Dunbar. "You always feel bad any time a guy is going to miss a particular part of the season," Witherspoon said. "Were all going to support him." Witherspoon, an 11-year veteran, is ready to pick up the slack left by Dunbars suspension. "If Im asked to step in and start, then thats what Ill do," he said. "If not, Ill still be the veteran leader that Ive always wanted to be." St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead were not available for comment. Most players were given Wednesday off. A one-hour special teams-only practice was held late in the afternoon. The entire squad will participate in a full workout Thursday afternoon. Phillies Jerseys 2019 . From filmmaker Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), The Price of Gold revisits the saga that rocked the figure skating world ahead of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games: the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and the plot that led its way back to her rival Tonya Harding. Phillies Jerseys 2020 . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. https://www.cheapphilliesjerseys.us/ . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Philadelphia Phillies Pro Shop . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Cheap Phillies Jerseys . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. From the high of their opening victory over Sri Lanka, West Indies tied against Zimbabwe and then suffered two narrow defeats, by one and five runs, to slip out of contention for the tri-series final, and will leave Zimbabwe with just one win from four matches. Where did it all go wrong?Its a difficult question, West Indies captain Jason Holder said after his teams tour-ending defeat to Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. Luck wasnt really in our favour in some instances but, out of the things that we could control, I didnt think that we fielded well throughout the entire tournament, consistently.Its very disappointing. Its tough to be in this position, after starting the tour so well. At the beginning of the tour we felt we could have won the tournament, and to be in this position right now, were absolutely gutted. Its a situation where we really need to look at ourselves in the mirror and see where we fell short, moving forward into the new year, and see how we can come together again and perform better.Today I felt Zimbabwe got too many runs, and we didnt bat smart enough in the situation, Holder added. We lost wickets at crucial stages. Zimbabwes 218 for 8 may have seemed a modest target, but conditions were tricky for batting and with rain around it was always possible that Duckworth/Lewis targets could come in to play. West Indies needed a steady start, but instead they lost three wickets inside the first 10 overs. Graeme Cremer used his bowlers cunningly, and for the first time in an ODI innings the first four bowlers used were all spinners. With wickets falling, and Zimbabwe getting through their overs very quickly, the hosts were able to put themselves in a strong position.Some credit must be given to Zimbabwe for the way they strategised: [how they went] about their innings, and to get the spinners on early and get through their overs with all this talk of the weather around, Holder said. Holder himself very nearly pulled West Indies back into contention. He hit three of the first six balls he faced to the boundary, and followed that up with a lofted six - the only one of West Indies innings - down the ground. When Cremer came on to bowl the 28th over, with the drizzle getting heavier, West Indies were just eight runs from a winning score.dddddddddddd Holder said he felt he could have continued batting in those conditions, but the umpires decided otherwise.At the beginning of that last over which Graeme started to bowl, I knew we had to get as close as possible to it, but it was still a risk because you didnt want to lose a wicket as well. So I tried to go after him a little bit, but I couldnt get hold of it. I had a word with the umpire then, and he did say that if it continued in that vein wed consider going off. For me, I was just trying to get to that score without losing a wicket, so I was between a rock and a hard place.It was touch and go, to be honest. I felt the weather never really changed throughout the entire day. But the umpires used their discretion, I couldnt really get involved. It was their decision. They felt it was becoming a little slippery for the fielders. I was willing to play through it, and I felt like we could have stayed on and played through it, but that was beyond my control.Yet Holder will not leave Zimbabwe with nothing to show for his troubles. Ahead of the final, the two leading run-scorers and three of the top five wicket-takers in the tri-series are in the West Indies squad.There are plenty of positives. We got two centuries in four games, the bowlers came in and did a really good job. And just to see the way we went out in the last game to try and chase down 331, to fall one run short... For a young group, a very inexperienced team, to get that close, credit must be given to the guys. Im not disappointed too much in individuals performances. Collectively, we fell short.To see the way weve grown in this tournament, the way the guys have played, I cant fault them. Its a situation where we need to learn, and learn quickly. We go back home now, and some people have first-class cricket, and then we have our 50-over competition in the new year. Its a situation where we need to take every opportunity we get to play some cricket, and well get better. ' ' '