Joe Haden was once a member of the Cleveland Browns in their lowly years, but for the past couple of seasons, he has been on the other side of things with the AFC North division rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

But going into 2019, the Steelers are actually underdogs for a change as a result of a monstrous offseason for the Browns in which they brought in the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Kareem Hunt, Olivier Vernon, and Sheldon Richardson.

Haden doesn't mind the fact that many are picking Cleveland to win the division and actually feels that Pittsburgh should embrace it:

“Just having that chip on our shoulder and having people doubting us, I think it’s something we can use to our advantage,” said the cornerback, according to Chris Adamski of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Just come out here and grind.”

The Steelers won three division titles between 2014 and 2017, so they are not used to being overlooked:

“This team, I feel like they’ve not really been underdogs,” Haden said of the Steelers. “Ever since I’ve been playing against the Steelers for seven years, they were never an underdog.”

However, the 30-year-old feels that the lack of respect may actually be healthy for Pittsburgh, as it might light a much-needed fire in the locker room:

“You hear the outside noise,” Haden said. “Usually, Pittsburgh, (outsiders are) always, ‘Aw, they’re going to be in the playoffs.’ They just basically put us in the playoffs. Now to hear people not talk as highly of us has kind of put a chip on our shoulder. I think that’s a great thing. We’ve got something to really work for.”

Haden is coming off of a 2018 campaign in which he totaled 63 tackles and a couple of interceptions.