CINCINNATI -- For the majority of Karlos Dansby's career, he has been more than just a teammate.

The 13-year veteran argues that since his fifth season in the NFL, others have sought out his guidance.

But as the Cincinnati Bengals' newest defender, the 34-year-old outside linebacker isn't trying to reprise the role of mentor, at least not just yet. He'll only take individual Bengals youngsters such as Vontaze Burfict under his wing if it's a downright necessity, and if they are receptive to him doing so.

With one more pick, new Bengals outside linebacker Karlos Dansby will be just the fifth player to have recorded 40 sacks and 20 interceptions in a career. Jason Miller/Getty Images

"Vontaze Burfict is a great player and I just hope my drive can match his drive and make him better," Dansby said.

Still, it's only natural when you look at the Bengals' roster to assume that he and Burfict would make for a good older-brother/younger-brother type of pairing. At 25, Burfict is still settling into his professional career and enters his fifth season amid controversy.

Thanks in part to a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty in the final seconds of January's wild-card playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Burfict has been suspended for the first three games of the 2016 season. It was a firm punishment, one from which the league hopes Burfict will learn. The Bengals are hoping he doesn't lose too much of his edge when he comes back and that he will continue to play at a similar, although more careful, intensity.

Dansby hasn't been fined in his career, but he has been an intense playmaker. With one more interception, Dansby will be only the fifth player to have recorded 40 sacks and 20 interceptions in a career.

Mentor or not, Dansby's primary concern for now is that he plays in lockstep with Burfict and the Bengals' other linebackers.

"He's one of the best [in the league]," Dansby said. "He's very consistent, and he can fly around from sideline to sideline. He's an every-down 'backer. The young man plays hard."

Burfict had 74 tackles, a sack and two interceptions after appearing in only 10 games last season. He missed the first six while still recovery from microfracture knee surgery.

While Dansby is putting the mentor role on pause for the moment, he knows he won't be able to completely run from it.

"As a leader, you need to find out what's needed in a situation, and it has to be natural," Dansby said. "It can't be something that's forced. Some people do it by leading by example, and some people do it just by their play on the field. It's so many different levels to being a leader, and once you figure that out and you go into a situation like this where you have a team full of leaders, you've got to just find your role. You've got to be able to follow, and you've got to be humble enough to follow, and you've got to be strong enough to lead where it's needed."