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In the Locker Room with Germie Bernard · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Being with us in the locker room with where the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Corona Max starts.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: I'm Rob Keaton getting you ready for the Steelers and
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: the Buccaneers game coming up on Sunday. And we are
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: really happy to be joined in the locker room by
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: rookie wide receiver, Jeremy Bernard.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Jeremy, thanks very much for being with us today. Really
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: Of course. Thank you guys for having me on.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Jeremy, before we get started too much into this game,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: I did want to ask you, Had a chance to
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: see you the night you were drafted, or maybe it
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: was the night after you were drafted. I think it
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: was the night after, over at the Steeler Southside facility.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: And then, you know, from there, from being drafted, you know,
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: your family was with you. It was great to see you.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: And then, you know, from that moment on, what has
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: the transition been like from, you know, a guy in
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: college to a guy now playing in the NFL for
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers?
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: I mean, after that, it was a transition and going
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: to like, it's time to work now. You know, like
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: the dream came true, but now you got to put
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: in the real work and, you know, do what it
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: takes to, you know, be able to play and have
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: an impact.
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: And Jeremy, you know, coming into a wide receiver room
• 1:18
  Speaker 5: where you got guys like DK Metcalf and michael pitman
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: in there and just kind of talk about the leadership
• 1:24
  Speaker 5: in that room and kind of coming in as as
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: as a young guy right seeing these guys that are
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: veterans and just watching their habits like what have you
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: been able to glean from those guys to add to
• 1:36
  Speaker 5: your game that maybe you didn't necessarily have i mean
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: i know you were a very very studious football player
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: at bama but um you know what did you learn about,
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: you know, in that transition, watching those guys work versus
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: what you came in from at Alabama and kind of
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: what those differences were from college to the pros.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: So, um, obviously like those, those are guys plus Rome,
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: they've been in the league for, you know, a numerous
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: amount of years and they have a ton of experience.
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: And so, uh, for me, it was more learning the,
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: the mental side of the game and learning how the
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: ebb and flow of the game go. Um, learning, um,
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: the different, you know, disguises and schemes and coverages and,
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: you know, how to attack certain leverages and how to, uh, just,
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: you know, play the game mentally fast.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Cause like at this level,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: everybody's really talented. You know what I mean?
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: Like guys are not in the league, you know, for
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: no reason. It's the reason that they're there and it's, it's, it's,
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: you got to learn how to separate yourselves. And, you know,
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: those guys have had an impact in the league for
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: such a long time. And, you know, that's something that
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: I took from them and, you know, I put into
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: my game is learning the ins and outs, you know,
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: the small details of the game so you can play
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: fast without thinking because the talent is already there.
• 2:56
  Speaker 6: Hey, first and foremost, man, welcome aboard to Steeler Nation, man.
• 3:02
  Speaker 6: I think you're a hell of a talent and I'm
• 3:04
  Speaker 6: glad you're a Steeler.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Moving forward, I see the Steelers.
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: Leaned on you last week due to injury and I
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: thought you was able to pop off the tape. Now
• 3:12
  Speaker 6: going into this week, We know the Bucs defense is
• 3:17
  Speaker 6: coming along. They have a big time safety in Tykee Smith.
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: They're strong against the run. How do you expect to
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: impact the Bucs defense going into this game?
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: I think for me, it's just, you know, worrying about,
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: you know, us, worrying about my job and doing the
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: job to my best abilities. And, you know, those impact
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: plays will come. You know, I just got to. Just
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: continue to play my game, play fast, and whenever my
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: name is called and those opportunities come my way, I
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: know I have to make the most of them.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Rookie for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jeremy, I have to ask you,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: you were two when Aaron Rodgers was a rookie. So
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: unless you're one of those people that can remember life
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: at two years old, you don't ever remember life when
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers wasn't a quarterback. at the NFL level and
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: a great quarterback. Obviously, he's going to be a first-ballot
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Hall of Famer. Is there any sense of getting used
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: to a guy like that? Do you ever look up
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: and be like, whoa, man, number eight's throwing me the ball.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: This is kind of cool. Or is he just the
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Was there a wow factor
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: when you first met him and first started working with him?
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, 100%.
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  Speaker 4: It was a surreal moment to know that I'm playing
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: with a.
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  Speaker 3: Hall of Famer.
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: And I had to get used to, you know, playing
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: with him. He's had so much experience within the game,
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: and he knows so much. So it took a lot of,
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: you know, asking questions. It took a lot of learning,
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: and it took a lot of, you know, making mistakes.
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: And he's been helping me a lot, you know, with
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: that transition. You know, he sees that, you know, I have,
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: you know, the talent there, and there's, you know, certain
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: things that he still wants me to work on, and
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: he's still challenging me, you know, every single day, you know,
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: to be the, you know, best receiver that I can be,
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: so I can, you know, be able to help the team,
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: you know, with whatever they need, and.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: So it's been great for me, just learning, you know, mentally,
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: you know, how to play the game, like I said.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: With, like, Deacon and Michael Pittman and Rome, like, they've
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: helped me that way, but seeing it from his point
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  Speaker 4: of view has really helped me grow in a lot
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: just because of.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: You know, he's, he's a QB.
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  Speaker 4: He, he goes into depth about different coverages and what
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: he sees and what he knows and how, how he thinks.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: And so me learning how he thinks and, you know,
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: the timing of everything and how, you know, he wants
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: things to be done.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: That's how that trust is built. And that's how you
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: make plays, you know, on the field, being, being out
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: there with them.
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: And so, It's been a great experience for me to,
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: you know, be out there and be with him and
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: learn from him.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: It's been nothing but a blessing.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: And he drops these pop quizzes on you too, huh, Jeremy?
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, he does. He challenges me.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, is it just like you guys are walking
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: to the lunchroom or something and he'll be like, you know, hey,
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: what are you doing on this play or against his
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: coverage or is it more structured than that?
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: So we have a player's only meeting, like, the skill guys,
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: and it's about, like, 15, 20 minutes, and he'll just,
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: you know, call me up there, and he'll, you know,
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: ask me, okay, like, what are the guys on defense, like,
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: what are the names, what are the numbers, like, do
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: they play left and right, or is one of them
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: going to travel with our best guy, you know, what's
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: the scheme, what coverages they're going to run, what pressures
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: do they run, he.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Asked me about, you know, our own game plan, you
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: know what I mean?
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  Speaker 4: Like, so with him, it's about knowing what to do,
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: knowing how to do it, knowing why to do it,
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: going into depth about the game plan.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: And so that really helps me prepare, you know, very well.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: That's it's about preparation with him because he wants to
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: know that you're able to be trustworthy. And so it helps,
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: it helped me, you know, learn how to prepare better
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: than I already was. And it's been, it's been great
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: for me. I take on the challenge and, you know,
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm not perfect. And if I have a
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: question I'm going to ask, I'm not afraid to ask
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: because I'm not afraid to get better.
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: Jeremy, you know, last week you had a very high,
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: you know, catch. You had a career-high day. You had
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: six catches for 80 yards. Just kind of talk about,
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: you know, just as you get better in this offense
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: and get more comfortable just about the opportunities that that
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: present themselves. You know, and obviously the injury to Pitt
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: is something that's, you know, making this tough for you. Well,
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: I wouldn't say tough, right? I mean, it's an opportunity. But,
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: you know, having an update on what you can do
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: and what you're bringing to the table, just kind of
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: talk about that opportunity that you're getting in the midst
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: of this and how that is a transition for any rookie, right,
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: you know, that comes into a veteran room.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's been great. You know, for me,
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: I know that, you know.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: I'm here, you know, for a reason. And, you know,
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: for me, it's just playing my role. You know, I
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: played my role. I supported, you know, my guys and
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: I prepared like I was always a starter. And then
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: when the opportunity came, you know, just you can't take
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: it for granted and you have to, you know, step up.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: You know, the team is, you know, they're looking, they're
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: looking for that. And it's just like that with every position.
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: It doesn't matter if you're a rookie or if you're.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: You know, a nine-year vet.
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: Like, you have to always be prepared because you never
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: know what's, you know, going to happen. And, you know,
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  Speaker 4: I have a lot of confidence, you know, within myself
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: to know that I can, you know, help the team
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: have success.
• 9:06
  Speaker 6: Me and Max were fortunate enough to be coached by
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: the great Mike McCarthy, not Mike McCarthy, excuse me, Mike
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: Tomlin and Bill Cower.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: And we learned a lot.
• 9:14
  Speaker 6: What have you learned from Mike McCarthy thus far? uh
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: going into at the early stage of your still a career.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: Uh yeah he just for him it's like um you
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: know once once you once you get here and you
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: finish through otas and everything like he he.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Doesn't look at you as a rookie anymore you.
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: Know he he looks at you as a valuable asset
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: um And he's going to push you. He's going to
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: challenge you because he wants the best out of you
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: because he, you know, he sees that, you know, a
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: lot of us have potential, you know, coming in as rookies.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: And so for for me, he's just he's.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: Been really well to me, just challenging me, you know,
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: helping me get better, understanding the game.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: Like I said, I think this year is. been a
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: lot mentally than physically.
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: They've just been making sure that I know what I'm
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: doing within the playbook. I know why we're doing certain
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: things and how we're supposed to get each other open
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: or how certain concepts are supposed to work.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: And so they've been helping me evolve within the game.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Jeremy Bernard is our guest, Steelers rookie wide receiver. Jeremy,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: a couple things that were in your scouting report coming
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: in and that have certainly been manifested here is that
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: you're a tough guy to tackle. You're a hard, physical
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: runner when you have the football in your hands. The
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: other one that I wanted to ask you about is
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: the blocking. And for me, I think the Steelers wide
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: receiver group, and I'm going to throw the tight ends
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: there too, with Darnell Washington and Pat Fryermuth in particular.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: They have done a great job of downfield blocking. We
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: talk about this all the time. You don't get five
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: yards without a good offensive line. You don't get 50
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: yards out of a play without great downfield blocking. And
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: I just have been so impressed by the downfield blocking
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: that the Steelers have done this year. Is this something
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: that is talked about at all, or does everybody just
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: know that's part of the job and go out and
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: do it?
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: It's, we know that's part of the job, like, you know,
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: be selfless, you know, it's, it's about the team. It's
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: about doing whatever it takes to, for us to win.
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: And that's no part of the game. And so that's
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: what we do, you know?
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: And I think that's kind of something I, you know, Jeremy,
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: I don't know how much of like a historian you
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: are with the Steelers, but I mean, obviously a guy
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: by the name of Heinz Ward really made that a
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: prominent deal for, for why receivers and kind of is
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: in the mantra and built into the DNA. Just, uh,
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: have you, have you like studied guys like Heinz Ward
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: or other, um, receivers as far as how, how their
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: blocking prowess is, is that something that's, that's been a
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: part of your study and regimen and getting ready for this,
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: or is it something that's just always been a part
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: of you?
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: It's been something that's been a part of me. Uh,
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: I mean, I don't, That's not something you study. It's
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: the will, you know what I mean? Like, are you
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: willing to do it or not?
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: Jeremy, I'm going to keep it quick with you because
• 12:20
  Speaker 6: I know you're pressing.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: I know you want to get out of this interview.
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: I'm going to ask you, who's your favorite office alignment
• 12:26
  Speaker 6: on the team right now? Because we're the ones that
• 12:30
  Speaker 6: you need to kind of grow our lines to.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: You block for us, we block for you.
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: Who have you fallen in love with that's fallen in
• 12:37
  Speaker 6: the office alignment?
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: I got to go with my boy Troy.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: Obviously, the whole group, I love them to death, but
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: that's been my boy since high school, so I got
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: to go with Troy.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, so I have to leave you this.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I don't know if this is a group meeting or
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: I don't know how this happens, but Aaron Rodgers said
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: evidently Jennings Dunker, another offensive lineman, another rookie, has to
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: give a joke of the day.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Are you privy to that?
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, did you have to give a joke of
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: the day or– Are you there when Jennings Dunker tells
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: this joke of the day?
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: I'm there. It's in our offensive group meeting, so he
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: does it in front of everybody.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: Is he good?
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Amazing jokes.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Did you have to tell any jokes? I did. Were
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: you good?
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: I was decent. I'm not really a big jokester.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Well, it sounds like you guys are having fun. We
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: think we've really enjoyed watching as you've come along, Jeremy.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: We look forward to calling Max and I many receptions
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: this week in Tampa Bay.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: And thank you very much for being with us. Really
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: Of course. Thank you. Thanks for having me on.