Count veteran Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard among those content with the new coaching staff led by head coach Zac Taylor.
Bernard, quietly a contract-year player in an offseason dominated by A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd in that regard, has quite a bit at stake based on how the new coaching staff runs the offense.
So far Bernard likes what he sees — schematically and in how Taylor makes an impression on the entire roster.
“It’s been well,” said Bernard, according to Bengals.com. “Just getting accustomed to the new playbook and accustomed to the change. Everybody is really trying to understand how Coach Taylor wants this team to be ran. I think everybody is really buying in. Obviously right now it’s just trying to pick up the X’s and O’s as time gets rolling we’ll understand it a bit more and be ready for week one.”
When he’s addressed the topic publicly, Taylor has made it rather clear he plans to lean into a committee approach in the backfield and give Bernard plenty of looks.
That has to be refreshing for the 27-year-old back to hear. Bernard missed six games in 2016, then missed four more in 2018. Over the last three years, he’s had just one 100-plus carry season and only 40-plus catches once, too.
All that figures to change, especially if Bernard’s hints at liking the schematic side of things turn into an easy transition.
