Cincinnati safety Jordan Battle will be trying to stop former Alabama teammate Najee Harris when the Bengals play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Harris is the Steelers’ starting running back, and Battle might make his first NFL start against Pittsburgh.

“We won a national championship together – 2020,” Battle said. “Najee’s my guy. We used to talk a lot. In practice, we used to compete a lot. He was one of the guys I feel like got me better as a player in college whether it was tackling, whether it was being more on my feet in the open field because he did try to get a little shifty in practice just so I could get that work. …

“He’s a hard guy to stop. Bama guys are hard to stop as a running back, as a whole. I feel like Bama is RBU. But we know Najee’s a tough guy to take down. Has quads on him, has good legs, runs his feet through contact, so we’re going to have to wrap up, gang-tackle, second guy in rip at the ball, try to create turnovers and get off the field early, like I said.”

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Battle joined the Bengals as a third-round selection in the NFL Draft on April 29. He’s worked as a backup for Nick Scott and Dax Hill through 10 games.

In Cincinnati’s most recent game – a 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 16 – Battle took over for Scott at strong safety and played a career-high 57 defensive snaps. Battle led the Cincinnati defense with 11 tackles, and he also made a tackle during his regular duty on special teams.

“I thought he made the most of his opportunities,” Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said. “… Jordan did a great job. You saw him play a lot of the snaps in this game. That’s going to continue as we go forward. It’s all about grabbing the opportunity that’s in front of you, and I think Jordan’s done a good job of that.”

Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo pinpointed why Battle would have a larger role.

“Tackling,” Anarumo said. “First and foremost, 11 tackles showed up. Gus Edwards is a sturdy running back, and he was able to get him on the ground in one-on-one situations, so let’s just start with that. Let’s start with getting a guy on the ground. It’s tackling A1A.”

Battle steps into a bigger role with the Cincinnati defense just at a time when he figures the Bengals defense will need to play a bigger role for the team. Cincinnati placed starting quarterback Joe Burrow on injured reserve on Saturday with a season-ending wrist injury.

“Obviously, we know losing a guy like Joe is a big change,” Battle said. “The best quarterback in the league. We know it’s going to be tough. We know we got to go out there and do whatever we can to help the offense, whether that’s creating field position or if that’s getting off the field early. Those things are going to be good for us, and we accept the challenge as a defense.”

The Bengals and Steelers square off at noon CST Sunday at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.