Following a gruesome injury that left Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb out for half of the 2023 season and all of the 2024 season, Holcomb is back with the team and practicing at this year's OTAs.
Holcomb joined the team ahead of the 2023 season, and played well in the first eight games of the season before suffering a knee injury that has kept him off the field since then.
While Holcomb did practice minimally towards the end of the 2024 season, he is now practicing again with the team, now with full intent of playing the complete 2025 season.
During OTAs, Chris Adamski of TribLive asked Holcomb how he felt participating at this year's OTAs.
"Looking back, you never know, one play can end your season. You take stuff for granted. So now I'm just soaking everything up, enjoying it, having fun out there," Holcomb said. "When we got here, it was kind of just business as usual, but it felt great to be back out with the guys."
Holcomb was able to amass 54 tackles and forced two fumbles in the eight games he played in during the 2023 campaign. He recently was in talks with the Steelers front office, and they came to terms on a renegotiated contract, allowing for the Steelers to have more room to operate within the cap as well as making sure that Holcomb stuck around for the 2025 season.
Holcomb will be entering the seventh year of his career, and his sixth season playing healthy. He was drafted in the 5th round of the 2019 NFL Draft by Washington, and started 56 of the 58 games he has played in. Across five seasons, Holcomb has 442 tackles and seven forced fumbles between his time in Washington and Pittsburgh.
