Hillis laments fumbles

Running back Peyton Hillis was more focused on his three fumbles than on passing the 1,000-yard mark Sunday afternoon.

Peyton Hillis gained 108 yards on 21 carries and reached the 1,000-yard mark in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. He hit the mark on the game’s first drive, one play after gaining 25 yards on a run down the Browns’ sideline.
However, as he walked about the locker room at Ralph Wilson Stadium in his cowboy boots and hat, the Conway, Arkansas native was more concerned about his three fumbles, one of which was lost to the Bills (3-10), in the Browns’ (5-8) 13-6 setback.
“We lost,” Hillis said. “One-thousand yards is 1,000 yards. A ball game that you win, that goes on for days on end. It makes your teammates excited; it makes your coaches happy and that’s what means more to me than 1,000 yards.
“I think it was most of a down day,” he continued. “I wasn’t like myself today and I let myself down in a lot of ways. You can’t harp on it too long. You’ve got to come out, focus on next week and try to improve your mistakes.”
All systems were go for the Browns running game in the first quarter Sunday afternoon.
The Browns went to Hillis early, trying to establish the run and he responded by gaining 41 of the team’s 51 yards on the opening drive. Hillis was limited to 67 yards for the rest of Sunday’s game.
“I don’t think it was a success running the ball because that’s all game,” said Hillis. “Putting the ball on the ground sure didn’t help things at all and I take full responsibility for that. We were running the ball effectively and moving the chains and some things just didn’t take.”
Hillis’ first fumble of the day came on the first play of the team’s second drive. After the defense forced a turnover when linebacker Chris Gocong got a strip-sack of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Hills tried to gain a few extra yards by jumping over a Bills defender. However, Jairus Byrd knocked the ball loose and Kyle Williams returned the fumble 11 yards.
“He’s done it a lot of times successfully and the key thing, whether he’s hurdling or not hurdling, is protecting the football,” said Browns coach Eric Mangini. “He wasn’t the only one that put it on the ground. It was on the ground other times. That’s the starting point.”
“The ball popped out and there’s no excuses,” Hillis added. “It’s what happened and is something I need to take care of. It was really on my shoulders. I messed up. I’ll have to watch film on it to see what really happened. We lose as a team, but there are a lot of things I could’ve done to help the team bounce back and almost win the game. No doubt, but it’s something you have to go into the film room and discuss.”
Despite the loss, Hillis plans on quickly getting back to work in preparation for the team’s final road game of the season against the in-state rival Cincinnati Bengals.
“You run the ball hard and try to get those extra yards and things just happen, especially in weather games,” he said. “You’ve got to be mentally prepared, knowing you can’t run like you usually do. You don’t expect the ball to not be a factor. That’s my mistake and I will get it fixed.”
JOINING THE ELITE
Hillis, who now has 1,070 yards on the season, is the ninth Browns player in team history to reach 1,000 yards. He is the second-fastest to reach the mark since the league expanded to a 16-game regular season in 1978. It took him 13 games to reach 1,000 yards and only Reuben Droughns, in 2005, reached the mark faster.
FORGING A LEGACY
Hillis became the first Browns player ever to run for 1,000 yards, record at least 50 catches and score 10 total touchdowns in a year. Only he and Mike Pruitt (1980 and 1981) have gained 1,000 yards rushing and hauled in at least 50 catches in a year.

Tags: feature , gallery , latest news , photo , players , Postgame