Bengals' Giovani Bernard: Solid effort as fill-in starter

Bernard rushed 12 times for 61 yards and a touchdown while adding five catches for 25 yards on nine targets in Sunday's 31-21 loss to Carolina.

Bernard dominated the backfield touches with Joe Mixon (knee) out, as the only other Cincinnati carry was recorded by wide receiver Tyler Boyd. While Bernard moved the pile to cap his team's first drive with a one-yard touchdown, he wasn't as involved in the receiving game as his excellent pass-catching reputation would suggest. If Mixon's unable to suit up next week in Atlanta, Bernard would again have the team's running back snaps mostly to himself.