Cole Holcomb’s career took a major twist when he suffered a gruesome knee injury halfway through the 2023 season. That injury sidelined him for the rest of that year, and he missed all of 2024 as well.
Fast-forward to now, and Holcomb finally has another NFL game under his belt. Getting there was a tough process, as Holcomb acknowledged, speaking with Missi Matthews after practice on Monday.
“It was a long time coming,” Holcomb said. “It wasn’t a short journey by any means…. I had every emotion going on, but once we got back out there, it was just ball all over again… I needed to get that first snap under my belt, and then we can get rolling. It felt great to be out there.”
The injury was quite unfortunate timing for Holcomb. Before that night, he was putting together a solid season in his first year with the Steelers. He wasn’t a star but became a reliable defender against both the pass and the run.
It’s been a long process for Cole Holcomb, as he says himself. It’s normal for him to have a ton of emotions, and it also would have been normal for him to make a few early mistakes after being out of action for so long. And against the run, he did struggle a bit. Pro Football Focus handed him a team-worst 34.8 run defense grade.
He was much better against the pass, though. Late in the first quarter, Nick Mullens tried to find Parker Washington on a hook route, but Holcomb came over to make a nice hit and help break up the pass. Just a few plays later, Mullens looked for Tank Bigsby on third down, and Holcomb also made a nice play on the ball.
The run defense may have to improve, but he still made some nice plays in that department. For being away from game action for a season and a half, Holcomb’s performance was encouraging. He occasionally put himself in good spots against the run and had the right timing to help break up passes in coverage. There will be some bumps as he gets used to playing live again, but there was plenty to build on.
He’s behind Payton Wilson and Patrick Queen, who each want to be on the field as much as possible. However, the Steelers will want to see what they have in Holcomb with his recovery complete, especially if he can improve on Saturday’s performance during the next two preseason games.
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