Alex Cobb favors pitchers having the option of wearing protective headgear on the mound.

Cobb returned to Tropicana Field on Monday, nine days after being struck in the right ear by a ball hit by Kansas City's Eric Hosmer.

"I remember deciding what pitch to throw. ... I remember seeing the ball come back," said Cobb, who is out indefinitely with a concussion. "Might have caught a glance of the ball and subconsciously turned my head, thankfully."

The injury renewed debate about what can be done to protect pitchers from batted balls.

"I don't want it to turn into something where every pitcher on the mound has to wear something. That's everybody's personal choice," Cobb added. "It's one where you want to have a little say-so that if this incident happened again you were able to do everything you could to protect yourself, your future, your family."