Coley Harvey, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Giovani Bernard won't change running style after injuries

CINCINNATI -- In the past three games that Giovani Bernard has appeared in, the small-in-stature Cincinnati Bengals running back took a series of punishing blows.

The culmination of the hits resulted in him missing the past three weeks as he rested hip and clavicle injuries.

 Of the more painful and vicious tackles he took, none came inside the tackle box. All were on the outer edge, either as he was catching a pass or finishing a run that went out wide.

Still, the perception persists that Bernard's injuries were the result of him being worn down because of the supposed high rate of runs he has had into the middle of the field. The widespread belief is that his recent physical abuse stems from pounding the ball into the middle of his offensive line.

It's false.

But even if that was true, Bernard vowed this week to continue running the football the same way he has before. If he has to run inside, he'll keep going inside. If he has to get hit running outside, so be it.

"I play football," Bernard said. "I know the consequences of playing football, and I love the game. I don't worry about that.

"If you ask a lot of running backs, they don't preferably like to just be able to do one thing. We're built to do whatever the coaches want us to do. One guy may be able to do something better than the other guy, and we just leave that in the coaches' hands."

When you see Bernard lined up in the backfield Sunday at Houston, don't automatically assume he's going to be running a stretch play to the right or left.

"Everybody says, 'Well, just run him on the edge,'" offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said, echoing Bernard. "Well, you can get hit on the edge, too, just as well as you can get hit up the middle. You're going to get hit. That's just the way it goes."

He, too, plans on utilizing Bernard both inside and out. He won't shy away from calling for plays in either direction.

It bears mentioning that Bernard has more overall rushes into the interior of the field this season than he did as a rookie at this point last year. Through seven games (that's all Bernard has played this season), 85 of his 109 total carries this year have gone between the tackles. That means 78 percent of his runs have gone up the middle. Through seven games last season, he only had 53 carries into the middle of the field. With 67 total rushes, that meant 79.1 percent of his runs went up the middle.

Percentage-wise, he rushed inside slightly more last year at this point.

Production-wise, Bernard has fared much better running in the middle of the field this year than he did in 2013. Of his total rushing yards, 80.4 percent this year have come up the middle, as have all five of his rushing touchdowns. After seven games last year, only 41.4 percent of Bernard's yards came from inside carries, and only one of his four rushing touchdowns went that direction, too.

"Every running back has a [set] number of hits in their career. You just have to find ways to limit as many shots as you can take," Bernard said. "Whether that, sometimes, is being smart and running out of bounds or getting down when you know you've got 10 guys on your back. You just have to know when to turn it on."

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