Adam Taliaferro can breathe a little easier. And now so can Penn State.

The Penn State football player injured Sept. 23 during the Nittany Lions' game against Ohio State has been upgraded to stable condition as he recovers from a bruised C-5 vertebra in Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Taliaferro was moved into the Philadelphia hospital's Neurological Intensive Care Unit of the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center after doctors took the defensive back off a ventilator Sept. 28 and removed all tubes Monday evening.

Taliaferro has been breathing with his diaphragm as he cannot move his chest enough to breathe with his lungs, but he is no longer suffering from spinal chord shock.

"Medically, he is doing very well," Penn State Director of Athletic Medicine Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli said. "I've always been secretly optimistic, but we have to be careful that we don't make promises we still can't keep."

He could be transported to the Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, a place that specializes in spinal injuries, as early as tomorrow. Should Taliaferro change locations, he would have to spend at least 10 to 12 weeks there to learn things such as how to eat with a spoon and dress himself.

If Taliaferro does well in rehabilitation, he could return home after that, but he has had little movement thus far in his lower extremities.

Monday, Taliaferro sat up in a chair and before that he watched Penn State win an emotional 22-20 contest Saturday against then-No. 22 Purdue.

"We are encouraged that Adam is going to be able to do some rehabilitation and things like that," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said.

But, Sebastianelli said Taliaferro's prognosis has yet to be determined.

"We are not sure yet," he said.

Especially, Sebastianelli said, Taliaferro would not be as resilient fighting illness should he become ill.

Taliaferro came to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 15 miles from his Voorhees, N.J., home, after he underwent successful decompression spinal fusion surgery Sept. 25.

He suffered the injury in the final minutes of Penn State's 45-6 loss against Ohio State last week while attempting to tackle tailback Jerry Westbrooks. Since his injury, he has received hundreds of cards offering support.

The university established a fund Thursday in Penn State's development office to support the Taliaferro family with his long-term care and to help cover medical expenses not covered by Penn State and NCAA catastrophic injury insurance programs.

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson led a prayer session for Taliaferro Friday.

Penn State Athletics Director Tim Curley, athletic administrator Joe Sarra and assistant coaches Jay Paterno, Kenny Jackson and Bill Kenney have visited Taliaferro.

Joe Paterno said he has been unable to make the trip because of time constraints. But he stays updated on Taliaferro's condition with phone calls daily and has allowed calls to his home at any hour for information.

Donations can be sent to Penn State's development office in Old Main and cards can be sent to the football office on Hastings Road.

"There are so many Penn Staters right now who really want to help any way they can," Joe Paterno said.