Steelers Now
UNITY TWP., Pa. — The first practice of training camp is special for every player on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster. The start of a new season comes with first-day-of-school type excitement from the newest undrafted rookie to the most-grizzled of veterans.
But Thursday’s first practice of training camp 2025 was probably most special for Steelers inside linebacker Cole Holcomb.
The 28-year-old nearly had his football career taken away from him by a gnarly knee injury in November 2023. He was chasing wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, then of the Tennessee Titans, when a teammate smashed into his knee, tearing multiple ligaments. Holcomb had surgery and started a grueling rehab process that not only cost him all of the 2023 season, but all of 2024, as well.
He was finally cleared to return to action last January, practicing for one week before the team’s playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, and he was a full go this spring at OTAs and minicamp. Now, Holcomb is all the way back.
“[Thursday] was all about soaking it up, having fun,” Holcomb said. “Honestly, this has allowed me to get back to when football was just you playing for the love of the game. It felt great to be out there. I was just excited to be out there, fly around as much as I could, show them I’m back, show them I can do it.”
There was a chance that if Holcomb didn’t ace his rehab, that fateful play against the Titans might’ve been his last in the NFL — and it still might. His spot on the team, currently on the second unit behind Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson, is not fully secured. He had to take a pay cut this past offseason in order to return to Pittsburgh. There’s a chance a young linebacker like seventh-round pick Carson Bruener could take his job.
So I asked Holcomb if he comes into camp with anything to prove to anyone.
“It’s just love of the game,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to be done.”
And after a pause, he added: “I mean, yeah. I’d be lying if I said I don’t wanna be out there, show everyone that I’m back to playing at the level I was before I got hurt.”
Linebacker is a reactive position. They see what’s happening in front of them, analyze it in a fraction of a second, and then take off at full speed, bracing for impact with a blocker or a ballcarrier. And Holcomb is very good at it. He had 54 tackles in eight games for the Steelers in 2023. In his last full season, he posted a whopping 142 for Washington in 2021.
But some time away from the game has led to a rarity for a linebacker — time for reflection. Holcomb came to camp with a new look, cutting off his signature curly mullet and sporting a mustache. He said the new look signifies a fresh start for 2025.
“My wife was like, you’re...
