Cole Holcomb suffered a leg injury so severe that the Amazon Prime cameras would not show replays. It happened during a Thursday Night Football telecast, when the Steelers linebacker got tangled up with his own teammate as they chased a Titans receiver.
This was back in early November. And Holcomb needed to spend the night in the hospital. Needless to say, he spent the rest of the season, his first with the Steelers, on injured reserve.
Now, flash forward to late May. Holcomb is with his teammates for the start of phase three of OTAs. He just can’t practice with them, as yet. That’s because he’s still in the rehab portion of his injury. No one has revealed the extent of the damage, only that it was more than an ACL tear.
“It’s been a grind,” Holcomb told reporters. “It’s gonna be a grind. But it’s one of those injuries that all you’ve got to do is just [expletive] work,” Holcomb said. “I can do that. I have no problem doing that. I’ll do whatever I gotta do to get back.”
With Holcomb still sidelined, the Steelers signed Patrick Queen from the Ravens, their arch divisional rivals, in free agency. And they drafted Payton Wilson. Queen was one of the best defenders in the AFC last season, so he’s a huge boost to the linebacker corps. The unit will be more formidable once Holcomb is back on the field.
“We’re great,” Queen told reporters in regards to his fellow Steelers linebackers. “We’ve got the guys to do it, especially when Cole (Holcomb) comes back. We’re going to be clicking on all cylinders. I can’t wait.”
Holcomb has been overcoming one obstacle or another since he started playing football. He started as a walk-on at North Carolina. Then by his senior season, he was a second-team All-ACC selection. The Commanders selected Holcomb in the fifth round of the 2019 Draft. And he started his rookie season in Washington.
The Steelers signed Holcomb last offseason to help shore up their inside linebacker depth. He kicked off the season with eight straight starts. In those games, he made 54 tackles with two fumbles, two PBUs and two quarterback hits.
In 2022, Holcomb’s third season in the NFL, he injured his foot, which required surgery to repair. This was a year after he registered 142 tackles with a pick six.
But his Steelers season ended on Nov. 2 as he tried to tackle Titans receiver DeAndre Hopkins. However, he collided with fellow Steelers teammate Keanu Neal.
Coach Mike Tomlin gave an update on Holcomb as OTAs started.
“He’s working to get back to us,” the coach told reporters. “And doing a heck of a job of doing it.”
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