Broncos get an assist on scouting Pittsburgh defense from CB Levi Wallace

Levi Wallace spent part of his week in the film room.

Sure, there’s the standard defensive back work.

The veteran Broncos cornerback got some time with the offensive staff as it began preparations for Pittsburgh, too.

Wallace, of course, spent the past two years playing for the Steelers. He started 18 games and played in 31 under coordinator Teryl Austin and head coach Mike Tomlin. Austin was the coordinator for both of Wallace’s seasons with the franchise and Tomlin has been the head man there since 2007.

Wallace, a seventh-year pro, played two snaps for Denver as the dime cornerback against Seattle last week, but his role this weekend is a bit more interesting. Part player, part advance scout.

“They ask questions but it’s always hard. You sometimes are like, ‘I don’t really remember,’” Wallace told The Denver Post. “You come into a new place and you learn that playbook and so you’re like, ‘I don’t know what I was doing on that play or what we saw.’ Game plans change every week, so they ask, ‘What were you doing on this?’ And I’m like, ‘Man, that could have just been for that week.’”

It is certainly true that the fine details of plans change week to week, and it’s also possible Wallace is playing at least a little bit coy. Head coach Sean Payton, for example, said having a player like Wallace who played in the system for two years is more beneficial for game-planning than it is to know the tendencies of a former player you’re about to play against, like quarterback Russell Wilson.

That’s particularly true because Wallace played in the same system Pittsburgh currently runs defensively, whereas Wilson is in a new system with a new coordinator.

“You might ask him about fire-zone rules or certain coverage rules and indicators,” Payton said. “That would be much more relevant than having coached a player that’s with another team. It kind of comes up week-to-week.

“In other words, it’s not uncommon to have players that were on our roster that are going to be on an opponent’s roster. So you get some, but not a lot.”

That’s Wallace’s sense of it. Even if his input only makes a little bit of a difference or helps decipher one small element, that’s enough.

“I just try to help as much as I can,” he said. “The important thing is to go out and get a win, so if I can help the Broncos do that and the offensive guys ask me questions, I want to be able to be able to prepare them and maybe let them know, like this what you have to look forward to. So then it doesn’t shock you when the game comes.”

Of course, Wilson and Pittsburgh practice squad receiver Brandon Johnson can provide some insight on the Broncos’ offensive system to the Steelers’ defensive coaches because the same principle applies — Payton and company are running the same system in Denver that each played in.

That’s a normal part of the game in the NFL, where players move between teams frequently.

“I’ve done it before,” tight end Adam Trautman said. “We played the Eagles twice when Malcolm Jenkins was on the Saints and I was there, and he knew everything. Which is nice. It definitely helps. …

“Some of it’s unnecessary but some of it’s helpful for sure.”

Trautman is the type of player who likes more information rather than less, but only to a certain point.