LATROBE, Pa. -- Latrobe Memorial Stadium went deathly silent Tuesday afternoon for a few tense moments as Ben Roetlhisberger lay on the field with his head down.
The Steelers' $21.85 million quarterback left practice early after sustaining a head injury on the final day of training camp.
Mike Tomlin confirmed Roethlisberger was being evaluated for a concussion and in concussion protocol.
“Ben Roethlisberger sustained a hit today in practice. He is being evaluated by team doctors as part of the concussion protocol," Tomlin said in a statement released by the team.
Coach Tomlin on #Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger: “Ben Roethlisberger sustained a hit today in practice. He is being evaluated by team doctors as part of the concussion protocol.”
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) August 14, 2018
Roethlisberger had just completed his fourth straight touchdown pass, a throw to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the left corner of the end zone during seven shots, when he went down. After releasing the pass, he fell backward and smacked his head hard off the grass.
"I think he got knocked (into) pretty good," said rookie quarterback Mason Rudolph, who is expected to start Thursday night's preseason game in Green Bay.
"Obviously, we wish him the best. I think hopefully he'll be OK. I think someone kind of got bull-rushed and it was kind of a domino effect."
The 36-year-old was down for about 2-3 minutes as trainers and teammates rushed to his side. He was slow to get up but sat himself down on a cooler where he put a towel over his head.
Shortly after conferring with head trainer John Norwig and general manager Kevin Colbert, Roethlisberger exited the high school stadium under his own power. Colbert was later seen watching replays of the injury on a TV monitor in a corner of the end zone.
"Any time the franchise quarterback is down like that, everyone is kind of tense," said center Maurkice Pouncey. "It was dead silent. But he got up and said he was good. He just got whiplashed a little bit. I think he'll be fine."
In his 14-year career, Roethlisberger has been diagnosed with three concussions, the last of them coming late in a Nov. 29, 2015, game at Seattle. Roethlisberger self-reported that injury and took himself out of the game.
At the time, he said he did so to set an example to other players.
"I've played through many injuries -- but when you talk about your head, that's a different ball game," Roethlisberger said in 2015. "You can replace a lot of body parts, you can't replace a brain. You see the effects of it from past players, players who have taken their lives, the CTE stuff, all that stuff. And, you know, I'm thinking about my family, and long term. And yeah, I love this game, and I love my brothers that I play football with. And I would encourage any player that has an issue with their brain to just report it properly. I wasn't making it worse, I wasn't making it better, I was just telling them (how I felt)."
Tomlin had already ruled Roethlisberger out of Thursday night's second preseason game against the Packers in Green Bay along with backup Landry Jones. What is unknown at this time is whether this will affect Roethlisberger's playing time in the preseason.
He had already sat out the team's first preseason game at Philadelphia last week in a coach's decision but was expected to play in the team's third preseason game next week against Tennessee. That game is scheduled for Aug. 25 at Heinz Field.
Due to inclement weather, Tuesday's practice was moved from Saint Vincent College to the grass field at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.
