CINCINNATI -- Aside from a 61-yard touchdown on a screen pass against Cleveland, Giovani Bernard has been almost invisible this season.

Rookie running back Joe Mixon, a 2017 second-round draft pick, has evolved as the Cincinnati Bengals’ go-to guy out of the backfield, and Bernard, a fifth-year player, seems to be taking a backseat in Bill Lazor’s offense.

However, Lazor said Bernard’s lack of production, and really the lack of touches, is the result of the offense’s overall inability to extend drives. The Bengals ran just 51 plays in Sunday’s loss against Tennessee, including just seven for gains in the second half.

“The story of the last few weeks was we haven't been on the field very much, so our opportunities have been limited,” Lazor said. “I don't see any change in what his role is -- it's just a matter of, I think, as a whole we haven't had as much production.”

Cincinnati has converted only two of 18 third-down plays in the past two games, and the Bengals rank last in the NFL in rushing while on pace to run for just 1,122 yards. The franchise low for a non-strike season is 1,439 yards in 1995.

Things don’t look to be getting better, either.

Jeremy Hill, whose numbers also have drastically dropped, took himself out of the running back equation by electing to undergo ankle surgery that coach Marvin Lewis said likely could have waited until after the season. The Bengals picked up rookie Brian Hill off Atlanta’s practice squad as a third option behind Mixon and Bernard, but they really could use a spark from their veteran back.

Bernard has just 28 carries for 113 yards and no touchdowns to go along with 17 catches for 196 yards and two scores through nine games. Coming off a career season in 2015, he finished last year’s injury-shortened campaign with 337 yards and two touchdowns on 91 carries over 10 games before tearing his left ACL in a loss to Buffalo on Nov. 20, 2016.

“I thought when he got that screen pass against Cleveland [in Week 4], that was it -- that was going to get him going,” Lazor said. “I think Gio is a pro. I think he's done lots of things. I just think when the opportunities hit, it's going to happen for him. I guess it's our job just to make sure we get him those -- not just the calls, but get him in the right situations. Sometimes you go through a drought and you pull through the other side. It's like you open the faucets and it just keeps coming, so let's hope that's about to happen.”

Bernard said he still is recovering from his ACL surgery -- he has days when the knee is sore -- but he doesn’t feel like any different of a player than he was before the injury.

“I wouldn’t be on the field if I didn’t feel like myself,” he said.

But when Bernard has gotten the ball, he hasn’t done a whole lot with it. He hasn’t carried for more than 12 yards in a game since Week 3, and four of his 13 attempts since then have gone for negative yards. He has eight catches since the Cleveland game with two for negative yards.

Bernard doesn’t downplay his need to step up, regardless of how many chances he gets. Mixon was in for 31 of the 51 plays last week, while Bernard played 20 snaps, and the difference was even greater at Jacksonville the game before when Mixon played 28 of 39 snaps and Bernard just 11.

“It's just making the most of your opportunities,” Bernard said. “I've always been the kind of person where whenever you get a chance to make the play, you make the play. You can't count on the amount of opportunities you're going to get. Coach Lazor is going to do what he does -- he's going to try to give the guys on the team as much as they can to make plays, but the opportunities you get, you've got to make the best of them.”