Playing with renewed confidence, LB Cole Holcomb looks for strong finish to Steelers preseason

When he took the field for the preseason opener, linebacker Cole Holcomb looked like someone who hadn’t played an organized football game in 21 months.

Which, of course, he hadn’t.

When he played last weekend against Tampa Bay, Holcomb looked like someone more at ease playing in the middle of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense.

Which he was.

“I got my confidence back,” Holcomb said after the Steelers’ 17-14 loss Saturday night. “It feels good.”

Holcomb had every reason to be upbeat about what he put on tape in the first half against the Buccaneers. Playing 34 snaps, Holcomb contributed four tackles, three of them solo stops.

A week earlier, in his first game since he suffered a gruesome leg injury in November 2023, Holcomb had just one assisted tackle in 25 snaps.

“Finally getting that first game out of the way, I could get back to the normalcy of playing ball again,” Holcomb said. “Last week was a big moment. My eyes were all over the place. This week, it felt like things calmed down, and I was able to get back to doing my thing.”

Until his injury, Holcomb’s “thing” was being a big hitter stopping the run and following running backs and tight ends in coverage. He was filling that role capably eight games into his three-year contract with the Steelers when his leg was shattered and his future put into question.

Not only did Holcomb miss the rest of that season, but he also spent last year on injured reserve. He was cleared to return in the final week of the year but was not activated for the wild-card playoff game against Baltimore.

He went from rotating with Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander at the two linebacker spots, to getting used to a new duo when he returned. Patrick Queen is entering his second year with the Steelers after being a splashy free-agent signing in 2024, and Payton Wilson is embarking on his second NFL season and trying to establish himself as a three-down player.

“When (Holcomb) was starting for us, he was coming along and playing really good football,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Monday. “I’m hoping that continues. If Cole gets back and continues to progress and gets to 100%, we really can have three every-down linebackers. I think that’s pretty important. For guys to play every down, it’s rare. And we have three of them.”

How much Holcomb can contribute to the Steelers defense will depend largely on how he continues to progress in the preseason. He’ll have one more chance, Thursday night at Carolina, to prove he deserves an increased role and perhaps even a spot in a rotation with Queen and Wilson. With Queen resting, Holcomb started the first two preseason games alongside Wilson.

“I need to go out there and prove to everybody, the entire NFL, that I can still play, that I’m back,” Holcomb said. “That I’m just as good as I was before the injury.”

Holcomb already has proven that to himself, although it was a long, arduous process to get there.

“There were days I’m looking back, and I’m looking at pictures of that week and the year before, and you don’t think your season would be over that day or week,” he said. “You take every day for granted. So now, I’m appreciative of each day. Even when it (stinks), even when it’s hard, I’m just thankful to be able to keep doing what I love to do.”

Austin lowered his level of expectations for Holcomb when the preseason began.

“I didn’t expect anything earth-shattering that first game,” he said. “Just him getting his feet wet, getting back to being used to the speed of the game. Last week, it was more along the lines of what we saw when he was starting for us.”

Along the way, sometime before the start of offseason workouts, Holcomb cut the trademark mullet that he sported for much of his pro career. He has kept his hair tight for the entire summer and doesn’t intend to bring back the mullet. It’s another reminder for Holcomb of how far he has come in his journey.

“It was time to cut ties with it and say goodbye,” Holcomb said. “It seemed like a good moment to do it.”