Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was mum Friday on just how long Dan Connor will be suspended.

"I don't want to get into it," Paterno said. "What's in the papers is what we're doing."

The sophomore linebacker was placed on indefinite suspension Aug. 19 for his alleged involvement in harassing prank phone calls placed over a several-month period. The State College Police Department conducted an investigation into the nature of the phone calls.

Connor was the first of three contributing Nittany Lions to not make it out of the preseason. Projected starting wide receiver Mark Rubin is out for the season due to injury, and reserve defensive lineman LaVon Chisley was declared academically ineligible.

Connor, junior receiver Jim Kanuch and junior safety Nolan McCready, who were also involved in the calls, were issued a "summary offense for their actions," according to Penn State sports information.

Connor was practicing with the scout team defense at Friday's practice, according to Sports Information Director Jeff Nelson. Kanuch and McCready practiced with the team Friday, but Nelson was unable to address whether the two had been absent from any practices during preseason camp.

"He knows he messed up," senior quarterback Michael Robinson said when asked about Connor. "He regrets it, and we move on from there."

Robinson also said that the team forgave Connor to lessen any potential distractions.

The Nittany Lions must now figure out how to replace Connor, and that means mixing up the remaining linebackers. Paterno said the next natural link in the chain is redshirt freshman Tyrell Sales.

"Sales brings a lot to the table," senior defensive end Tamba Hali said. "He's a different type of player."

Different may be an understatement. Sales is 20 pounds heavier than Connor, better equipped for the middle linebacking position instead of Connor's weak-side linebacker post.

The always-adaptable Tim Shaw, then, will move from his middle linebacker spot to Connor's vacated weak-side position. Shaw has also been taking snaps with the offense in an ongoing experiment with the H-back position.

The same day Penn State sports information released the official word on Connor's suspension, Rubin went down in practice with a dislocated right ankle.

Rubin, a sophomore who started the final seven games last year as a true freshman, was arguably Penn State's most experienced returning wide receiver.

Penn State's athletic medicine director Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli said the normal rehabilitation period for Rubin's injury, after surgery on Aug. 22, is four to six months.

"Rubin going down definitely hurt us, but it just provides an opportunity for someone else to step up," Robinson said.

True freshmen Derrick Williams, Justin King and Lydell Sargeant and redshirt freshman Deon Butler will compete with redshirt sophomore Terrell Golden for the remaining wideout spots, a position Robinson said has a luxury of depth.

Paterno first hinted that Chisley's football playing career was possibly in jeopardy at Penn State football media day more than two weeks ago. Once summer grades were in, Chisley was on the short end of the eligibility stick.

The loss of the fifth-year senior, who rotated behind starters Hali and Matthew Rice at both left and right defensive end, is another blow to the depth on the defensive line. Senior tackle Scott Paxson is still trying to work his way back into his 2004 starting role after an on-campus incident involving bow and arrows; redshirt junior Ed Johnson was temporarily expelled from the university in the spring for alleged sexual misconduct; and redshirt sophomore Amani Purcell received a release from his scholarship in the summer to pursue a transfer to the University of Hawaii.