It’s been a long, winding road for veteran inside linebacker Cole Holcomb to get back onto the field after suffering a devastating knee injury in Week 9 of the 2023 season against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football.
That knee injury ended his 2023 season and kept him out for the entire 2024 season. But after a return to practice late last year while rehabbing and recovering, Holcomb now has himself in position to return to the field for game action with the Black and Gold after taking a paycut from the Steelers this offseason, keeping him in the Steel City and allowing him to provide experienced depth behind the likes of Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson following the loss of Elandon Roberts in free agency.
For Queen, who spoke to reporters Tuesday following the first day of voluntary Organized Team Activities at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, he’s stoked to see Holcomb working his way back. According to Queen, Holcomb “looks good” right now, and you can’t tell that anything happened to his knee, which is great news for the Steelers.
“Yeah, Cole, he looks good right now. Can’t even tell that the knee had all that happened to it and stuff,” Queen said of Holcomb, according to video via Pittsburgh’s DSEN on YouTube. “So I’m definitely happy for him, stoked for him to get him in rotation and stuff. And it’s just a lot of new, excuse me, there’s a lot of new stuff going on and stuff.
“But like I said, we got the guys in every single spot that could do the job, and I’m excited for it.”
The depth with Holcomb back and looking healthy looks quite good for the Steelers at inside linebacker.
In eight games before his injury against the Titans in Week 9 of the 2023 season — his first with the Steelers after signing a three-year, $18 million deal in free agency — Holcomb was proving his worth as an impactful player for Pittsburgh. He recorded 54 tackles, forced two fumbles, and had one fumble recovery.
But that night against the Titans, he got hit by his teammate and tore up his knee, ending his season and putting him on a long road to recovery.
He’s seeing the light at the end of that tunnel on the road to recovery, though, as he’s gearing up to have a role for the Steelers this season.
The belief is that Holcomb will take over the Elandon Roberts role defensively, serving as a run-down linebacker and a tackling machine, providing the Steelers with some physicality at inside linebacker after Roberts’ departure to Las Vegas in free agency.
Over the last few years, the Steelers have utilized a three-man rotation at inside linebacker under defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, with former linebackers coach Aaron Curry leading the group. But Curry is now with the Jets, and new inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley is overseeing the room, which features Queen, Wilson, Holcomb, and free agent signee Malik Harrison, not to mention special teams piece Mark Robinson and seventh-round rookie Carson Bruener.
Holcomb appears to have a role in that room, and he’s garnering some praise from teammates for how he looks right now, which is great news. It will be interesting to see how he looks in minicamp and training camp before some real preseason action. So far, so good, though.
