NFL says Steelers QB didn’t need cart after being knocked out cold
Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph was carried off the field Sunday after being knocked out by Ravens safety Earl Thomas. This was due largely in part because the medical cart at Heinz Field wasn’t working.
Rudolph was knocked out cold before he ever hit the ground following the helmet-to-helmet hit from Thomas Sunday.
It was one of the scariest injuries we’ve seen in a long, long time. Immediately, his body went limp, and teammates came charging in waiving in the medical staff to tend to him as he lay motionless on the ground.
Mason Rudolph knocked unconscious. #BALvsPIT pic.twitter.com/rWkF1YfZRT
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) October 6, 2019
But the NFL claimed Rudolph didn’t need the cart anyway.
“A cart was brought on the field in the event it was needed,” the league said in a statement, per ProFootballTalk. “After evaluating the player, medical staff determined a cart was not necessary in this instance. Had one been needed, there was a backup cart on the other sideline which was immediately available. He received appropriate medical care per gameday protocols, and is now in the concussion protocol.”
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which cited an unidentified stadium source, said the cart did not break down. According to them, it instead failed as a result of operator error. The report also noted Rudolph wanted to walk off the field rather than use the cart.
Steelers’ QB Mason Rudolph was allowed to go home from the hospital tonight after being concussed earlier in the day, per source. Rudolph now is resting at home and will be in the NFL’s concussion protocol, a best-case scenario after the hit he took from Ravens’ S Earl Thomas.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 6, 2019
That he has been released from the hospital is the best possible news Rudolph, and the Steelers, could receive.
