RB Hill will take Bernard’s place for the Bengals
On Friday, coach Marvin Lewis’ words worried many Bengals fans and price per head agents, as he said that RB Giovani Bernard, who was not able to practice during the week due to injuries to his collarbone and hip, won’t hit the field on Sunday, and this would be the very first time that the RB won’t feature in an NFL game during his career.
Bernard – Cincinnati’s top rusher with five rushing TD’s, which is a high in his career, and 446 yards – is set to be replaced on Sunday by Jeremy Hill when the Bengals face the Jaguars.
“The rest is going to be good for him,” said the coach.
Lewis and the team said that it was too early to know if next Thursday the player would be in good enough condition to play, when the Browns pay a visit to Cincinnati.
“We’ll cross those bridges then,” said Lewis.
This season, Hill was able to record on 50 carries 195 yards and three TD’s, which include 15 attempts, which is a season-high, in Week 2 when they faced Atlanta.
On Thursday, Hue Jackson – the team’s offensive coordinator – said that he had confidence in the abilities that Hill has if Bernard isn’t able to feature in the game.
“I feel good that if it happened that way, that [Hill] would go in there and do the job,” said Jackson.
Cincinnati will also use backups Rex Burkhead and Cedric Peerman from the RB position, something that many price per head agents believe is a good move by the team.
Bernard, who over the last 3 weeks got some very nasty hits, suffered an injured hip during the team’s 27-24 win over Baltimore on Sunday. The problem with the collarbone goes back 2 weeks before that, when the Panthers’ Luke Kuechly threw him very hard on the ground.
Bernard, who also suffered injured ribs following on a hit from Colts CB Vontae Davis, was able to play despite the injuries until he left the game last week with the problem to the hip.
Cincinnati could be held up by WR A.J. Green’s return. The player could not feature in three meetings due to an injured toe.
“If everything stays the way it is, he’ll play,” said the coach.
The player was able to practice throughout the week, and showed no problems with the injury that he suffered, to the relief of many fans.
