When Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb went down with a knee injury in 2023, he didn’t need a doctor to tell him his season was over. He knew instantly.
“I was just wanting to get off the field,” Holcomb said via The Standard on the team YouTube. “I knew it was a bad injury, so I was just telling them, ‘Get the cart out here and get me outta here so we can do it not in front of everybody.'”
That marked the beginning of a process that took nearly two years before Holcomb got back on a football field. He has only played in the preseason so far, but that was a significant step in his journey, and one that gave him a lot of confidence.
“The Jacksonville game, I was pretty nervous,” he said. “Once we got that first drive outta the way, it felt good again. Got to make a good play. At that point it was like, ‘I can let it loose.'”
Plays like the one in which he covered a route all the way to the sideline to break up a pass gave Holcomb all the confidence he needed.
Injuries as severe as Holcomb’s come with uncertainty. There have to be times where players wonder if they’ll ever log another NFL snap. And if they do, will they ever return to being the player they once were? He never let that doubt creep in.
“I don’t think I ever questioned being able to return,” Holcomb said. “That was always the goal. And now just make a comeback. I wanted to come back and prove that I can be a top linebacker in this league still.”
Holcomb had a whopping 142 tackles in his last full NFL season in 2021 with the Washington Commanders. The arrow was firmly pointing up for his career, and he was just starting to round into form for the Steelers with 54 total tackles and four tackles for loss in a little over seven games before the injury occurred. He was the quarterback of their defense with the green dot.
The Steelers have since added Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, and Malik Harrison to the mix, which complicates Holcomb’s path to contributing on defense. But his own experience makes clear that he just one injury away from significant snaps on defense. The coaches made it clear they view Holcomb as one of three every-down linebackers on the roster.
Holcomb reached a significant milestone by playing 82 total snaps in the preseason. But it’ll be a special moment when he takes the field for his first snap of the regular season in just a few days. Given his long road back to the field, I wouldn’t put any limits on what he can accomplish. If you do, he’s sure to blow them away.
