Honestly, you could not pen a script that follows the type of season Peyton Hillis has had and expect it to be believable. And yet, Hillis' strange season got even stranger today when it was revealed that he is now expected to be active and play in Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. "I'm excited I feel 100% again,'' said Hillis. "It's looking very positive for this game.''
Let's recap what happened this week. On Monday, head coach Pat Shurmur came right out and said that while Hillis was close to getting back to work, that he was ruling him out for the Bengals game. On Wednesday, Hillis returned to practice for the first time since November 4, but only did individual drills. On Thursday, reports said that he went through a rigorous workout and did extremely well. On Friday, Hillis took part in team drills.
"I'm working my best to get out there, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity," said Hillis. "I'm eager and excited about it." Shurmur is officially calling Hillis a game-time decision. "We have running backs coming back from injury, so none of them can handle a full load, and I think that's an important thing to remember," said Shurmur. Montario Hardesty will definitely be available against the Bengals, so at the very least, we shouldn't see Chris Ogbonnaya getting the start. When asked who would start if all three running backs were healthy, Shurmur said, "If our backs are healthy then Hillis is the starter, backed up by Montario, backed by (Chris Ogbonnaya)."
I was already excited for this game being against one of our division rivals, but the thought of Hillis returning to action has me really pumped. I'm extra anxious for game-day to get here, but I'll have to be extra patient since it is still two days away.