Steelers' Preseason Win Against Jacksonville Came With A Major Uplifting Story

The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars in their first preseason game of 2025 by a score of 31-25. Many players that were seen as camp bodies/practice squad guys played very well and made their case to sneak onto the 53-man roster. Obviously, the win doesn't mean much yet, as they don't officially count until September. Many fans have taken no stock in this game and declared the whole contest to be meaningless. In fact, Commissioner Roger Goodell has publicly admitted that he wants to do away with these "useless" games. 

Despite all that, this game meant so much to linebacker Cole Holcomb. The reasoning for that: this was his first game action since the middle of 2023, when a missed tackle by then-teammate Keanu Neal resulted in some friendly fire. Neal's helmet collided with the linebacker's knee, and that play completely shattered the entire joint. It was gruesome to see, and everyone feared for the worst-case scenario. 

Not only did Holcomb miss the rest of 2023, but he didn't play a single game in 2024 due to that one hit. He practiced a little bit at the end of the calendar year, but before he could get back up to speed, the Steelers were eliminated from the playoffs. Throughout the 2025 offseason, the expectation was that he would get cut due to being slower, weaker, and going a season and a half without doing anything football related. 

However, none of that slowed him down. All throughout the summer, Holcomb has seemingly gotten back to his old form. He has received all kinds of praise for his ability to recover so well and do everything he possibly can to get back on the field. He even reportedly looked stronger during Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and has continued that work as a backup during training camp. 

That's why Preseason Week 1 meant a lot to him. He spent almost two calendar years working as hard as he could to make it back to a professional football field. To make things even better, Patrick Queen was given the game off. That opened up an opportunity for Holcomb to roll with a hybrid first and second team defense. He was officially one of the starting linebackers once again, and he did not disappoint.

In the limited playing time he had, Holcomb was making plays all over the field. He ended a Jaguars drive by delivering a big hit to running back Tank Bigsby to break up a pass that was intended for him. Overall, the Jaguars did not seem interested in trying to throw the ball to whichever player he was covering during the game, as he was stuck to his players down the field. He also added a tackle onto the stat sheet. 

Steelers' Outlook At Linebacker Is Trending Up

You can never have too much depth, and with Holcomb returning to form, they have a lot of great depth at the linebacker position. Based on when each linebacker played and for how long, it seemed like the seventh-year player was slotted as the first rotational piece. Even though he did well in coverage in the preseason, he has always been a tackling machine, so he would likely sub in for run-defense situations. 

During the free agency period, the Steelers signed Malik Harrison to help out in that front. Now they just have an extra depth piece alongside Holcomb. The position as a whole seems to be as stacked as it was at the beginning of 2023. It could be even better than that year's unit that got wrecked by injury. Getting Holcomb back was huge for Pittsburgh, and he is not taking any snaps for granted.

What do you think about Holcomb playing well in his first game since his brutal injury? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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