Ravens safety Christian Thompson has been suspended for the first four games of the 2013 season due to violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, the league announced Monday.

The 2012 fourth-round pick out of South Carolina State will be suspended without pay but will remain eligible to participate in organized team activities, training camp, and all preseason games before his suspension goes into effect at the start of the regular season. At that point, Thompson will not be allowed at the team’s training facility in Owings Mills.

“We have been aware of this situation for some time,” general manager Ozzie Newsome told the team’s official website on Monday.

The free-agent addition of veteran safety Michael Huff makes the news of Thompson’s suspension less severe as Huff and veteran James Ihedigbo are projected to start at free safety and strong safety respectively. The Ravens are also expected to take a long look at a deep class of rookie safeties in this month’s draft.

Active for seven games in his rookie season before being placed on season-ending injured reserve with a knee injury on Nov. 17, Thompson held a role on special teams in limited duty and did not record a tackle on defense.

With Ed Reed and Bernard Pollard now playing elsewhere and unrestricted free agent Sean Considine considered unlikely to return, Thompson will be in competition with other young safeties Omar Brown, Anthony Levine, and Emanuel Cook for 53-man roster spots this summer.

Thompson is the second member of the Ravens’ 2012 draft class to receive a suspension after fifth-round cornerback Asa Jackson was suspended four games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy late last season.

A day before a crucial AFC North showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens announced rookie safety Christian Thompson has been placed on season-ending injured reserve.

Baltimore promoted safety Anthony Levine from the practice squad to take Thompson’s spot on the 53-man roster.

Thompson, a fourth-round pick from South Carolina State in April’s draft, was active seven games this season but did not record a tackle as he served on special teams. He was added to the Ravens’ injury report on Thursday, meaning he may have suffered the knee injury during that practice. The rookie was a non-participant during Friday’s practice and had been listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game.

Levine had spent the entire season on the Ravens’ practice squad after spending most of two years on Green Bay’s practice squad during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. The former Tennessee State product has yet to appear in an NFL game.

Thompson’s injury is the third of the season-ending variety for the Baltimore secondary this year after losing safety Emanuel Cook to a broken leg in the preseason and top cornerback Lardarius Webb to an ACL injury in mid-October. Earlier this week, cornerback Jimmy Smith underwent sports hernia surgery, but the Ravens remain optimistic the 2011 first-round pick will return before the end of the season.

After Baltimore Ravens victories, Ryan Chell and I award players who made positive contributions with “Pats on the Ass” during the “Nasty Purple Postgame Show” on AM1570 WNST.net.

The Ravens fell to the Houston Texans 43-13 Sunday at Reliant Stadium, meaning there were no Pats to be awarded.

So instead of offering “Pats on the Ass”, Ryan and I again offered “Slaps to the Head” postgame. A slap on the side of the head from a coach tends to come along with them saying something along the lines of “you’ve gotta do better than that.”

Same rules as there were with Pats. Two offensive players, two defensive players, and a Wild Card (Special Teams player, coach, or another Offensive or Defensive player). One player gets “two slaps” (or a slap on both sides of the head), it’s the opposite of a “Player of the Game” honor.” Ryan and I select five different players/coaches after each game.

Here are our five Ravens that have “gotta do better than that.”

(NOTE: Not all photos from today, some photos courtesy of Houston Chronicle.)

Glenn Clark’s Slaps…

5. Christian Thompson

4. Terrence Cody

3. Michael Oher

2. Jimmy Smith

1. Joe Flacco (Two slaps)