ESPN’s Benjamin Solak reports Germie Bernard “ran almost exclusively with the second-stringers” during 11-on-11s and “struggled with some of the finer details of the playbook.”

11 August 2026

Not a glowing review. Combine Bernard’s struggles with the idea that the Steelers might remain run-heavy this year (also espoused by Solak) and it feels like Bernard might just be a deep-league bench option this year. It should be noted that the overwhelming majority of the drumbeat about Bernard this offseason has been positive, so perhaps this was just an off-day.