Cincinnati Bengals rookie running back Giovani Bernard is hard on himself, setting a high personal standard.

The swift, talented second-round draft pick from North Carolina was unsatisfied with his preseason debut, rushing for 28 yards on 10 carries and catching three passes for 16 yards against the Atlanta Falcons.

Compact and quick, Bernard has a lot of talent.

“For me, if I were to give myself a grade I wouldn’t even want to put the grade out there,” Bernard told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I am really hard on myself. That’s just how I am. That’s how I’ve always been. I wanted to do a little bit more

"I wanted to be a little bit more productive with the amount of touches that I had. For me, I just want to be able to kind of do everything on the field. I did miss a blitz pickup. That’s the only thing really going through my mind. I’ll get better at it. It’s a day by day kind of process.”

As Bernard noted, it's a first step. There's room to grow.

“We got a ways to go,” Bengals running backs coach Hue Jackson said. “It’s a good start, but we have a huge expectation here running the ball. We are going to be a physical unit. That’s the nuts and bolts to me of an offense.”

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Aaron Wilson covers the Ravens for The Baltimore Sun.