Germie Bernard didn’t technically start Sunday’s game, but he was a starter, for all intents and purposes, and left his mark. While his unfortunate drop that turned into an interception will go down as the most notable play from his first significant NFL playing time, he did provide some highlights. And that wasn’t limited to just his work as a target in the passing game, either.
With Michael Pittman Jr. missing the Patriots game due to injury, Bernard and Roman Wilson took on increased roles. The offensive line, frankly, prevented the Steelers from getting the passing game going, though.
Both saw their share of targets, however, and made their catches. Wilson caught 5 of 6 for 28 yards—inefficient but mostly successful plays. Bernard saw 8 targets, though he caught only 4 for 35 yards. Oddly, all on the same drive. Pittman shared his thoughts on how they performed in his stead.
“I thought that they did well”, he said of Wilson and Bernard, via Ashely Wenskoski on X. “Obviously, a couple of plays that we’d all like back, but for the most part, I always look at, did they play hard? I think that both of them did, and that’s really the key to it is effort”.
Michael Pittman Jr. is evasive about whether the injury that held him out against the Pats is new or from the preseason, or if he’ll be back at practice this week.
“Taking it day by day.”
“I don’t want to say it’s old age because I’m not that old…things happen in football.” pic.twitter.com/Or2OJPYxCL
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) September 21, 2026
A rookie second-round pick, Germie Bernard played just three offensive snaps in Week 1, drawing no targets. He played 55 snaps on Sunday against the Patriots, an opportunity provided by Pittman’s absence. He played the exact same number of snaps as Roman Wilson, though he saw more targets—even if he caught fewer passes. He also did a little more in another phase of the game.
“He’s been talking a lot about his blocking, so we all were excited to see that, for sure”, Pittman said of Bernard, who evidently has been hyping up his physicality behind the scenes. And to his credit, there were, in fact, a couple times during the game when he was noticeable in that role. On Pat Freiermuth and Roman Wilson receptions, he helped spring them for extra yardage.
Now, the Steelers didn’t trade up in the second round for Germie Bernard to throw blocks. They believe that he can be a starting NFL wide receiver, and he has already shown signs of that. While he still has some rough edges that need smoothing, and that drop was certainly unfortunate, he has the route-running chops, the size, and the speed to be successful in the NFL.
Michael Pittman’s injury is providing both Bernard and the Steelers to get a preview of that. Perhaps it will accelerate his growth, but that depends, obviously, on how things go. While Aaron Rodgers is effortlessly forgiving of DK Metcalf’s drops, he tends to be more critical of younger players. That’s because he knows that Metcalf knows what he is supposed to do, whether or not he does it. Bernard has to prove that he knows so that Rodgers can trust him to do it correctly the next time.
