Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb’s long journey back after a gruesome knee injury is almost over

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Cole Holcomb listened patiently and politely shook his head. No, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker isn’t interested in reliving the gruesome knee injury that forced him to miss a season-and-a-half.

Living through it once was punishment enough.

Holcomb was chasing after wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins on a Thursday night game in November 2023 when a diving teammate slammed into Holcomb’s left leg, shredding multiple ligaments in his knee. How bad was it? The Amazon Prime crew broadcasting the game showed it in slow motion once and decided that was enough.

The road back took longer than Holcomb, an admittedly impatient person, ever imagined. He was cleared to return to practice near the end of last season, but never did pull his No. 55 jersey over his increasingly broad shoulders when it counted. The Fear of Missing Out wasn’t helped when he watched the middle of Pittsburgh’s defense get gashed repeatedly during a five-game skid that culminated in a blowout loss to Baltimore in the opening round of the playoffs.

"Definitely had some days where, you know, you just want to be out there and it's frustrating," Holcomb said Tuesday, his forehead beaded with sweat after the fourth of the Steelers’ six voluntary organized team activities. "But you know, it's kind of just one of those take each day, one day at a time and just keep chopping."

While Holcomb’s inherent confidence led him to believe he was always going to make it back, he knows nothing was guaranteed. The doctors told him there was a chance he’d never play again. It wasn’t merely a scare tactic.

"They basically were emphasizing how important the rehab was going to be," he said. "You know, if guys don't take it as serious and they don't put the work in, they won't be able to make it back. But if you put the work in, you do the extra stuff, you come every day, no matter how bad you don't want to, all that kind of stuff, you can come back."

The group Holcomb returns to is not the one he left.

During his lengthy absence, the Steelers signed Patrick Queen to the richest free agent contract in team history and drafted Payton Wilson, who Holcomb once hosted when Holcomb was at North Carolina and Wilson was a coveted recruit.

While Holcomb looks "more chiseled" as Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick put it, that’s not the only way in which he has changed. Watching from the sidelines during games let him take a step back and analyze things in real time that are kind of hard to come by when you’re on the field five yards from the line of scrimmage.

"I'm 30 yards back watching the thing and I'm, like 'Oh, I know this, I know this is about to happen,'" he said. "But it's like, hey, it's easy to see that from back here. But it has definitely helped seeing the forest or the trees kind of thing."

So much so that the 28-year-old could envision going into coaching one day, which his wife, Casey, is "not too happy about.” There were times last season when Holcomb certainly sounded like one.

"He's very vocal, he tries to help everyone out," Wilson said. "He knows a lot about the game. He studies a lot. It's cool to be around that guy to see how he watches film and diagnoses stuff."

Yet whatever coaching Holcomb might get into is for down the road. For now, he is focused on trying to get back to being the player who looked every bit worth the $18 million investment the Steelers made in him when they signed him in March 2023.

He’s less than thrilled that it took this long. Yet if he’s learned anything over the last year-plus, it’s that he can’t take anything for granted.

"The day (during rehab) you think like, 'OK, I hit this milestone,' well, 24 hours later, that's over, got to get moving on to the next step,” he said. "I wasn't really like, focusing on like 'How many months is it until I can run' or anything like that. You're like, 'What do I got tomorrow?'"

What Holcomb has now is a clean bill of health. Seven weeks from now, he’ll be in training camp, where he’ll be able to hit somebody hard for the first time in nearly two years. He’s already practicing. During a drill last week, Holcomb would hit the blocking sled, then turn his attention to Wilson, who was holding a pad.

The goal was for Holcomb to drive his shoulder into the pad. He did that, and in the process momentarily lifted the 240-pound Wilson off the ground a time or two before gently placing him back down.

Maybe it was Holcomb sending a message to someone who took his place in the starting lineup. Or maybe Holcomb was just settling accounts. Wilson, after all, opted for N.C. State rather than the Tar Heels, though Wilson insisted it had nothing to do with his weekend spent with Holcomb on the North Carolina campus.

"No, not at all," Wilson said, then added to laughter, "It was more so like the 5,000 people that go to games there and that's it."