The Cincinnati Bengals plan on utilizing their biggest weapon heading into their Monday Night Football showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers, James Harrison. The former Steelers linebacker had a messy divorce this offseason before signing with the Bengals. Now he is looking for a bit of revenge and Cincinnati is benefitting from it.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Harrison has been working with the Bengals coaching staff and offering insight on the inner-workings of the Steelers. Harrison was the leader of the elite Stellers defense, so the Bengals having that knowledge might work in Cincinnati's favor. Harrison will keep his eyes focused on Ben Roethlisberger throughout the game and understanding the team's playbook could mean for a long night for the quarterback.
While Harrison is looking to give his team the advantage on Monday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is looking to move on from all things Harrison and is ready to just play a game like normal.
"To be honest, when I step into the stadium, they're nameless, gray faces to me once we get started. That's just part of today's NFL. There's movement in this business and just about every week you're running across a guy you've had a professional and personal experience with in the past," Tomlin said, per The Cincinnati Enquirer. "James is a special guy who did special things here, but from that standpoint you've got to move on."
One way the Steelers moved on from the linebacker is by drafting Jarvis Jones to fill his roster spot. Jones will move up as a co-starter for Monday's game. Jones steps into the right outside linebacker spot recently occupied by Harrison, but the rookie is insisting that the two are very different players.
"He's vicious," Jones said. "Strong, way stronger than I'll ever be. And he's physical. I'm not saying that I'm not physical, but we've just got two different styles of play. I think I use my hands a lot more than him. He's more just legs and upper-body strength. He likes to overpower people, but I'm just more ... not finesse, but I like to do my steps and use my hands and more technique. Harrison's just a beast. I can't say what he does, because he's just a beast."
If Jones earns the start over Jason Worilds, he will be the first rookie defensive player to start for the unit since 2001. The Steelers obviously believe in him and he will get a chance to step up on Monday.
