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Cleveland Browns' Peyton Hillis scheduled for MRI on Monday to assess hamstring injury
Published: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 10:13 PM Updated: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 10:18 PM
Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
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hillis-tackled-raiders-horiz-jg.jpgView full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerPeyton Hillis had little success Sunday after suffering a hamstring injury on his second carry against the Raiders.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Peyton Hilli is a deeply religious man who doesn't believe in The Madden Curse. But his star-crossed season took another hit Sunday when he suffered a pulled left hamstring on his second run of the game and managed only four carries thereafter.

Hillis, who ran six times for 14 yards, will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of the injury.

"It's all frustrating," said Hillis. "But when it rains it pours and you just kinda roll with the punches. Everything's a life-learned lesson. The more optimistic you are about it, the more positive you can be and have an open mindset about it, the better off you'll be."

Hillis, who sat out the Dolphins game with strep throat and flu-like symptoms, pulled the hamstring on the opening run of the second drive, a six-yarder.

"It was my second run when I went outside and one of the defensive backs pushed me out of bounds and I overextended," he said. "I tried to play there a couple of series afterward the best I could."

Hillis remained in on that drive, but netted two yards on his three subsequent carries. He sat out the next possession and then tried to play in another second-quarter drive, eking out a four-yard run and catching a 16-yard pass that was nullified by a penalty. For most of the rest of the game, he stood on the sidelines with his helmet in hand.

Entering Sunday, coach Pat Shurmur had promised to get his embattled running back "the bulk of the carries.". Colt McCoy was looking forward to the renewed commitment to Hillis.

"That's nobody's fault," said Hillis, who's been the focus of talk-show debate for his absence against Miami and ongoing contract talks with the Browns. "You pull a hamstring, you try to go out there and do your best. It's nobody's fault. It's just unfortunate, disappointing."

In the fourth quarter, with the Browns trailing, 24-7, Hillis was determined to do something to help. After Montario Hardesty missed a safety blitz and watched McCoy get drilled on the field goal drive, Hillis trotted out to shore up the pass protection. He blocked on back-to-back plays and then had to depart again.

"I felt it was a critical part in the game," said Hillis. "I didn't want to leave Montario hanging out there, so I felt if I could go in there and do a little pass protection, do what I could do to help the team win..."

But it wasn't long before he realized that he couldn't play.

"Yeah, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do," he said. "But I wanted to help the team win. I was anxious to get out there and help. It was a critical point, we were just two possessions down and if we got that touchdown -- you saw how things worked out with the onside kick and stuff, we knew it was within reach."

Did he make it worse by re-entering the game? "I don't know," he said. "We'll have to see about that tomorrow.

"Hopefully I can try to play next week. If I'm not 100 percent, I still want to play. We'll see how that works out, see what the trainers say and hopefully I can be out there next week."

Safety Usama Young sat out all four preseason games with a pulled hamstring.

"It's low, that's good," he said. "I hear the lower it is, the better off you'll be. That's good news."

Meanwhile, Hardesty sat at his locker with a dejected look on his face. He finished with 35 yards on 11 carries and caught two passes for 18 yards. But he also dropped two passes and let McCoy get slammed on the blitz.

"There was only one time that I got my quarterback hit but that was a big play of the game," said Hardesty. "We ended up getting a field goal on the drive, but I let my quarterback get hit and I don't ever want to be the man to let my quarterback get hit.

"I'm definitely going to watch the film and correct everything that I did wrong so next week I can perform better and help us come out with a win."

He said he didn't think he was being too hard on himself.

"I want to be a perfectionist on the field and I don't think I had a perfect game today."

He might have plenty of opportunities next week to get it right.

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...which is why I think he should be used more on swing passes, dump-offs, etc....

Get him the ball out in space, and let him do what he does best: break tackles st the initial point of contact, and get MUCH yac.

I still have hope that Shu will get what seems painfully obvious to me. To date, I haven't seen a game plan that comes even close to using Hillis in a way that maximizes his strengths....

Dude has good hands, runs well (with a head of steam), and punishes the helloutta anyone smaller that he at the point of (first) contact. That includes a majority of LB's and ALL DB's.


Folks ragged on Daboll full-time last year, but at least he found a way to transform Peyton Hillis from a 1-2 down fullback into an impact player.

If we were runing a true W(N)CO, Hillis would be a bigger beast than he was last year, imho.

Just looked and the Browns have only scored over 20 points one week this season. Hillis only got close to 100 yards in one game this season, 94 yards, and it was the same game.

I wonder how much head-hanging Marecic is doing.

It should be. He was totally lost in pass protection. Completely blew the hit by the safety up the middle on the third play of the game. He was running around in the backfield on the right side blocking nobody on another. He's not a small part of the problem.

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that since nobody in this league is afraid of Dolt McCoy,

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McCoy is playing hard, taking a lot of hits and trying to make this team better... regardless of what you think of his ability or his future with this team, calling him insulting names makes you look like a childish idiot.

If you think calling Colt "Dolt" makes your point, or makes you cool, or whatever, have at it. If others were to refer to you as "overgoat", it would be fine, right?

Personally, I'm not in 3rd grade anymore, like you seem to be, so it doesn't much matter to me. Feel free to put me on ignore if you care to. Recently, your football "knowledge" has seemed to center on tearing players down. Week after week, post after post. Take it for what it's worth.

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It's also worth noting that since nobody in this league is afraid of Dolt McCoy

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DOLT? Was that a typo or your feeble attempt to make fun of a kid that, while you may not care for his ability, has done NOTHING to earn that name.

Or, are you just trying to be a Rome Clone again?

And you don't have a clue what other teams feel about him..

Dude, you can speak your peace. But if you speak your peace like a jerk, you can expect to be called on it. You incessantly criticize our team. That's fine, but I will call you on it.

You seem to think you know more than our front office. You've come across that way much too often. I'm not calling YOU personally out...............well, actually, maybe I am.............but it gets old hearing how everybody we have sucks.

And your boy Luck wouldn't change that. We'll find that out next year - when I start pulling a toad (that sounds too close to turd right there, doesn't it?) and knocking luck for every pass he throws.

Some - you - are convinced luck is the answer and are willing to trade away everything to get him. While neither your nor I have a say in what happens - I will enjoy following luck's career where ever he lands. I'm a stand up guy. If I'm wrong, I'll admit it. If I'm right, I'll remind you, and others of it. Often.

You called me on it. And I was wrong. I can't find anywhere that you have been pimping Luck. My bad. I was wrong.

I still get tired of hearing how sucky you think we are.........but that's for a different thread.

I was wrong about you and luck. (I was right about the other people I called out), but to you, sir, I apologize for the Luck thing.

OverGoat! CLASSIC.