Jonathan Hayes, the Bengals tight ends coach who once played for the Steelers in his hometown of Pittsburgh, meets yet another old friend this Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12) when left tackle Alejandro Villanueva makes his second NFL start against Cincinnati.
“This is a small world,” Hayes said after Wednesday’s practice. “Smaller than you think.”
How small?
As far as Hayes knows, the starting Steelers left tackle had been known to hand out Bengals gear to his platoon.
You have to go back five years. That’s when Hayes coached the 6-9 Villanueva (somewhere in the 260-270-pound range) after he surfaced at the Bengals 2010 rookie minicamp straight out of West Point on a tryout.