GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers made no excuses for Mike Pennel, who now holds the dubious distinction of becoming the first player under coach Mike McCarthy to be suspended twice in the same season.

The third-year defensive tackle received his second four-game ban of the season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. He missed the first four games of the year and now will miss the final four. He is eligible to play if the Packers make the playoffs, and it sounds like the Packers, at least for now, are standing by him.

“Personally Mike, he has an issue,” McCarthy said Thursday. “And it's important, it's the focus of our football program to help him through this time. That's really my focus, and that's really the conversation that I had with Mike Pennel.”

Pennel’s suspensions will cost him about half of his $600,000 base salary this season. Pennel refused to comment last week on his second suspension because, he said at the time, an appeal was pending. This offseason, he refused to disclose how he violated the league’s drug policy.

When asked at the time what he learned, he said: “Follow the rules.”

“It's disappointing, because Mike's one of our guys,” McCarthy said. “He's part of our defensive-line rotation. A rotation that's been very healthy, especially since he's come back. So it just really creates other opportunities for other players and that's the way we'll go.”

The Packers have not yet replaced Pennel on the 53-man roster but could promote defensive lineman Brian Price from the practice squad. Price spent two weeks on the active roster during Pennel’s first suspension.

It also should mean increased playing time for rookie draft picks Kenny Clark and Dean Lowry. Clark, the Packers’ first-round pick, played only seven snaps in last Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans. Lowry, a fourth-round pick, played 18 snaps and came up with his first career NFL sack.

“It's the same as the first four games of the season,” Clark said. “A lot of us had to step up, I think we handled it well. You've got to just take that same approach, make sure we hit the film room harder and the practice field hard, and get ready to play.”