Linebacker James Harrison "Giving Insight" To Bengals For Preparation Against Steelers

Often times when a player bolts his NFL team for a division rival in free agency, the collective reaction is "that makes sense". Most people that follow and/or cover the NFL believe that teams lure away a player from within the division to pick their brain on their previous team's gameplan, strategies, etc. The Patriots' Bill Belichick is a master at this. In truth, no one can definitively say how much this business practice actually helps a team--even if some did know, it's likely that a team would keep that information in-house.

Aside from the swagger, championship air and leadership that the Bengals loved out of James Harrison, it's possible that they wanted to lean on him for some Pittsburgh secrets when signing him in free agency. If that was part of Cincinnati's strategy, this is the week to implement it.

According to Ed Bouchette of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Harrison has been doing what he can to help the Bengals' staff this week for the big showdown on Monday Night Football.

Harrison said he's given #Bengals staff some insight on #Steelers heading into their game Monday night in Cincy

— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) September 12, 2013

This could mean a number of things. Perhaps Harrison is really taking a lead in the linebacker room by talking about some of the team's offensive tendencies. Maybe Harrison has been spending extra time with Marvin Lewis and Jay Gruden to exploit potential weaknesses on the Steelers' defense. Or, it could just be Harrison playing mind games with his old mates to get them thinking too much. Any and all are possibilities.

Anything to get a leg up on the competition, right?