Steelers' Rudolph (concussion) limited in practice - 2 minutes read


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PITTSBURGH -- Three days after sustaining a concussion in Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice.

"Mason, he's been telling me he's feeling really well," quarterback Devlin Hodges said after practice. "It's good to see him because that was a scary situation. I mean, really scary situation, talk about knocked out pretty cold, now to see him here, moving around and smiling and whatnot, it's a good sight."

Rudolph left the field in the third quarter after Ravens safety Earl Thomas' helmet connected with his chin.

Rudolph appeared to be knocked out on impact, but later walked off the field with heavy assistance from two of his linemen.

Rudolph remains in the concussion protocol and coach Mike Tomlin wouldn't speculate on his status for Sunday's game in Los Angeles against the Chargers.

"I've been at this long enough to know that I'm not a medical expert," Tomlin said. "We've got a great deal of confidence in our medical experts, and the independent neuro people that are involved in his process, and they'll do their due diligence. When he's available to us, he's available to us.

"But just from interacting with him and seeing him, it's good to see him obviously, he appears to be doing fine."

If Rudolph remains sidelined Sunday, Hodges will get his first NFL start after making his first appearance in relief of Rudolph last week. Hodges is an undrafted rookie out of Samford who was waived by Pittsburgh after training camp. But after the Steelers traded away Josh Dobbs, they signed Hodges, a Walter Payton Award winner, to the practice squad.

A week later, he was elevated to the 53-man roster when Ben Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury. In a quarter and a half, Hodges completed 7-of-9 pass attempts for 68 yards.