Steelers quarterback, Mason Rudolph, was recently interviewed about the hit that knocked him out of the game. He admits to having no memory of it.
It was a scary sight in week 5 when Mason Rudolph was knocked unconscious against the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers trailed heading into halftime, but Rudolph’s offense started to make a push in the third quarter.
During a spectacular play where Rudolph rolled out to hit James Washington on a third-down conversion to keep the chains moving, he was drilled under the chin by Ravens safety, Earl Thomas – leaving him motionless on the ground for what seemed like an eternity.
Rudolph was recently interviewed about what he remembers from the vicious hit against the Ravens. The short answer: Nothing. According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, here’s what Mason Rudolph had to say:
"“I did not remember the play at all,” Rudolph said Monday. “Everything before the play and after the play. It was weird. I had to go back and ask the coach, what was the play call because for some reason, just that play was kind of blank. But everything before and after was clear as day.”"
Rudolph does, however, remember making the treck to the sidelines after the medical cart malfunctioned at an inopportune time. The second-year quarterback claims he would have walked off on his own power whether the cart was working or not:
"“When I was on the ground, they made me move my arms and legs and made sure I didn’t have any type of spinal cord injury,” Rudolph said. “I guess there were plenty of memes about the cart not working. I wouldn’t have needed to be in the cart because I passed all of the tests on the ground. I would’ve walked, regardless of whether the cart was operational or not.”"
Rudolph went on to say that he had probably been hit like that “many times,” but that it had never resulted in getting knocked out before. Regardless of the way it occurred, it is still concerning to learn that Rudolph remembers nothing from right before or after the play.
The Steelers’ former 3rd round draft choice has been cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol, and Mike Tomlin stated that he would resume his role as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback this week. Devlin Hodges, who led the team to victory against the Chargers on the road, remains the backup if Rudolph can’t go for some reason.
Rudolph has shown promise in limited NFL action so far – throwing for 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in what equates to about 3 full games of action. Let’s hope he is fully recovered from that hit as he looks to lead the Steelers to victory over the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football.