Mark Sanchez suspended four games for PED violation

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption What's next for Cowboys, Dez Bryant after split SportsPulse: It's the end of an era in Dallas after the departure of star receiver Dez Bryant. Lorenzo Reyes details where each side goes from here.

Mark Sanchez was suspended the first four games of the upcoming season for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances, the league announced Friday.

"The NFL has informed me that I have tested positive for a substance on the banned substance list," Sanchez wrote in a statement posted to his Instagram. "I was blind-sided by the news and I want to say unequivocally that I have never cheated or attempted to gain a competitive advantage by using a banned performance enhancing substance. During the past 9 years as an NFL player I have been subject to 73 drug tests - an average of 8 tests per season - and all but one have been clean. I have taken the same regimen of supplements for the past five years without any issues.

"The timing and results of my tests establish circumstances of unknowing supplement contamination, not the use of performance enhancing substances."

Sanchez remains a free agent after spending last season as a backup behind Mitchell Trubisky and Mike Glennon on the Chicago Bears.

The No. 5 overall pick by the Jets in 2009, Sanchez has not started since playing for the Eagles in 2014-15.

Follow Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.