The Pittsburgh Steelers are notoriously hard on young players in general, let alone rookies. It typically takes injuries and/or the need for a spark before they get a real chance to start and show what they can do. There have even been reports that the team has outright ignored some of its newcomers and left them to figure out the NFL all by themselves. With a new coaching staff, there is a little more attention put into the draft picks, but the idea of having them on the bench until they're needed still applies.
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Steelers' Gennings Dunker and the rest of the offensive line at rookie minicamp in 2026.
The life of a rookie in Pittsburgh is very hard. While making an appearance on Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, wide receiver Germie Bernard spoke about how difficult it is to get up at 5:00 am and lift weights with the other rookies at 6:30, while the veterans can get a little more sleep and wait until later on in the day to get their lifting in. The fact that he is able to do that and still put up 11 receptions in a game is very impressive.
Cameron Heyward built off of Bernard's experience as he spoke about one rookie in 2025 that struggled with all of his new responsibilities in the NFL.
"Me and TJ [Watt] would just look at Jack [Sawyer] all the time, calling Jack," Heyward said. "Jack be like, 'Huh? Huh?' And we'd be like, "Jack, you here? You good? You ready to practice?' He'd be like, 'Huh? I'm good, I'm good. Ain't no rookie wall here.' Meanwhile, he's got one eye open at all times, like the dude is struggling in every meeting. Jack, for the longest time, would not admit that he was going through his rookie wall. Then, after the season, he was like, 'Yeah man, I was dog tired. I couldn't even do this anymore.'"
That explains why rookies don't see the field often: they're seemingly always worn out from the 6:30 workout session. It's hard to start players like Jack Sawyer when he can barely keep his eyes open during practice and meetings. It takes a very strong mind and body to survive being a young player in the NFL and still develop well, especially in Pittsburgh. Even with the complete overhaul of the coaching staff, that rigorous routine is still a factor.
On top of that, most rookies typically have to begin their careers on special teams, which means there is a lot of cardio to go with their early morning lift. Sawyer played on 76% of special teams snaps in 2025 while playing defense for just 25% of the snaps all year long. In his second year in the NFL, both of those percentages have risen, and that is expected to be the case as time goes on.
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Steelers' Jack Sawyer celebrates after making a play while defending the run against the Seattle Seahawks in 2025.
Overall, Sawyer played well for being tired all throughout the season. He had a sack and two interceptions in 2025, along with three tackles for loss. That's not bad for the last man on the depth chart. In the Wild Card game, he got a sack and a tackle for loss, despite only playing 11 defensive snaps that game. He may have been questioning everything during the practice week, but Sawyer's performance on the field didn't show any fatigue.
Steelers' Methods Are Being Proven To Be Good With Bernard's Performance
Bernard admitted that he questions his abilities with these morning lifts, but he has quickly become a key player to this offense. He stepped up big in Week 6 with injuries taking out all the other receivers, as he racked up 11 receptions for 87 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. His mentality has also been praised, as he can learn a lot of information in a short amount of time while not making the same mistake twice.
What do you think about Sawyer hitting his "rookie wall" hard but still playing through it? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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