![\"Cole](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2295428607.jpg\")
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Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb took the first step toward an NFL suspension with a hit against the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> linebacker Cole Holcomb<\/a> found himself in hot water this weekend.<\/p>\n The NFL<\/a> announced its fines from Week 3 Saturday afternoon. NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported<\/a> Holcomb was one of six players who received a fine for a \u201cmajor\u201d infraction from Week 3.<\/p>\n Holcomb committed an illegal blindside block against the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>. While the Steelers linebacker didn\u2019t receive a penalty for the block, which occurred on the game\u2019s opening kickoff, the NFL fined Holcomb $11,041.<\/p>\n While that\u2019s a lot of money for an NFL player, the 30-year-old potentially faces a much more significant punishment.<\/p>\n \u201cThree fines in any one category triggers an automatic one-game suspension,\u201d wrote Pelissero on X. \u201cPlayers can appeal the fines.\u201d<\/p>\n A total of six players were fined for \u201cmajor\u201d infractions in Week 3:\ud83c\udfc8 Texans LB Azeez Al-Shaair ($17,911 for hit on a defenseless player)\ud83c\udfc8 Texans LB Jamal Hill ($5,972 for illegal blindside block)\ud83c\udfc8 Rams S Kam Curl ($17,911 for hip-drop tackle)\ud83c\udfc8 Giants TE Isaiah Likely\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/tdNQ6S3C1T<\/a>\u2014 Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n In summary, Holcomb is two more infractions of the same kind away from an automatic league suspension.<\/p>\n The Steelers have already played another game since facing the Bengals. But the NFL releases fines on Saturday for the prior week\u2019s game. If any Steelers receive fines from Thursday\u2019s Week 4 matchup versus the Cleveland Browns<\/a>, those will be announced on Saturday, October 10.<\/p>\n Holcomb is<\/a> in his fourth season with the Steelers. He missed all of the 2024 campaign because of a serious knee injury he sustained during November 2023. But the veteran has returned to be a valuable special teams contributor and depth inside linebacker.<\/p>\n This season, Holcomb has six combined tackles in four games.<\/p>\n Steelers\u2019 Cole Holcomb Gets Fine From Week 3 Blindside Block Players can appeal fines, so it\u2019s possible Holcomb could get the illegal blindside block off his record. More than likely, though, it\u2019s going to stay, and he will have to be careful not to make the same kind of block two more times.<\/p>\n While not a starter, Holcomb would be a significant loss for the Steelers for any amount of time. He\u2019s played<\/a> a key special teams role this season, lining up for 61% of Pittsburgh\u2019s special teams snaps in 2026. Holcomb has also played 12 snaps on defense.<\/p>\n Holcomb was leading the Steelers in defensive snaps before his 2023 knee injury. In eight games that season before his injury, he had 54 combined tackles, including four for loss.<\/p>\n Over the first four seasons of his career, the linebacker played for the Washington franchise. He averaged 97 combined tackles per season.<\/p>\n Steelers Depot\u2019s Alex Kozora wrote Saturday the NFL overhauled its fine system for this season. That\u2019s made it more \u201crigid\u201d to be suspended but there\u2019s no other way to avoid that punishment after an offense other than an appeal.<\/p>\n Kozora wrote Holcomb\u2019s blindside block qualifies under the new system toward an automatic suspension.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Tom Pelissero outlined last month, blindside blocks are one of five penalties that can trigger an eventual suspension,\u201d wrote Kozora<\/a>. \u201cPlayers who commit three combined penalties in any of the five categories will be suspended for one game.\u201d<\/p>\n Kozora added that if Holcomb doesn\u2019t receive another fine, he will get 50% of his money back. That would reduce the fine he received from Week 3 to $5,520.50.<\/p>\n But should Holcomb eventually receive an automatic suspension, he will lose a game check. According to Spotrac<\/a>, with a 1-game suspension, the linebacker would lose $93,055.56.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDave Holcomb<\/a> is a sports reporter covering the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers and a variety of other NFL teams. Originally from Pittsburgh, Holcomb has covered college and professional sports for outlets including FanSided, Rotowire and Yardbarker. More about Dave Holcomb<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb took the first step toward an NFL suspension with a hit against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-299532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}GettyPittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb took the first step toward an NFL suspension with a hit against the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n