PHILADELPHIA -- Montario Hardesty withstood the first test of his left knee in almost a year Thursday night against the Eagles.
"It was fun getting back out there," Hardesty said. "I didn't do some things I wanted to. I maybe wanted to play a little longer but it was good.
"Hopefully I'll play a little more next week and carry it on into the season.''
On his first carry, Hardesty was stopped cold by rookie linebacker Casey Matthews, the son of former Browns linebacker Clay Matthews. But he rebounded on his second attempt and plowed five yards up the middle to the Eagles 30.
His third carry showed some burst in churning out four yards behind Joe Thomas for a first down. He gained three yards on his final two attempts for a 3.0 average on the evening. If the average was unspectacular, Hardesty got through without incident to the knee, to the relief of everyone in the organization.
"I think it was good for him to get out there and get hit a couple of times,'' said Colt McCoy. "He needs to get in there and get his fits, get his timing down and I thought he did well.''
Hardesty's return is more pivotal considering Brandon Jackson is out indefinitely with what was diagnosed as turf toe. Jackson has not been seen at practice since he suffered the injury against the Lions last week.
"Regardless of whether or not (Jackson is healthy), I just want to go out and do the best I can for this team," Hardesty said. "It feels good to get back into live action.''
Peyton Hillis rushed three times for 18 yards and caught two passes for 35 yards, including a nifty one-handed grab and a 22-yarder near the end of the half.
Making an impact: Top draft pick Phil Taylor was eager to go up against his former Baylor teammate, Danny Watkins, the Eagles' first-round pick and starting right guard. He wound up dominating Watkins and rattling Cleveland Heights native Jason Kelce, the sixth-round pick who started at center.
On the Eagles' third play, Taylor stormed up the middle, sacked Michael Vick and forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Jayme Mitchell at the Philly 18. The Browns didn't capitalize, as Phil Dawson's field goal was blocked.
But Taylor set the tone. He got consistent pressure in the first half.
"It was my first sack, so I was pretty excited about it,'' said Taylor. "I got past the center (Kelce). I think I did well. Every week I try to work on my pass-rush craft. I think I'm getting better.''
There will be better days: Receiver Jordan Norwood was looking forward to facing his former team, but it didn't go as well as he had hoped. On a first-quarter punt return, Norwood was tripped by Sheldon Brown on a fair catch attempt and lost the ball. The Eagles converted it into a TD.
In the second quarter, Asante Samuel stepped in front of Norwood and picked off a Colt McCoy pass and returned it 17 yards to set up a field goal.
The walking wounded: Linebacker Titus Brown limped off the field in the first quarter with the help of trainers. He didn't return, and left on crutches with an apparent ankle injury. The Browns are already without Chris Gocong (neck stinger) and can ill afford more injuries.
McCoy falters: After two stellar performances, McCoy had his first poor outing of the preseason, completing nine of 18 attempts for 89 yards with an interception. His 41.2 rating compared to his 132.6 over the first two games.
McCoy didn't get much help. The Browns were plagued by penalties and dropped passes, including one on a deep ball to Evan Moore.
"We didn't play like we wanted to," McCoy said afterward. "We couldn't gain momentum. we couldn't get back on track. We've got to figure out that, but we're okay. There's no panic in this locker room.
"We understand the mistakes we made. If anything, this can be a good thing. It will be a bad day (Friday). But good teams will watch the team and learn from it.''
Added Shurmur: "If you ask him, there were a couple of plays he'd like to have back, namely the pick. For the most part he battled. This was a good defense and we just have to perform better.''
"We had some unfortunate things happen," McCoy said. "I just feel like we were behind the eight-ball a lot. You're playing second-and-long, third-and-long so much, it catches up with you.
"We had a few opportunities, I had Evan (Moore) down the sidelines once, had Robo (Brian Robiskie) down the field and we got a pass interference call, we had Peyton (Hillis) in the end zone and when you don't capitalize on those opportunities, you're all of a sudden behind and then you try to force things in there.
"There were some good things in there, but for the most part, we're not pleased.''
Pivotal call: An interception by Mike Adams was wiped out by a roughing call against D'Qwell Jackson. The referees ruled that Jackson made contact with Vick's chin on the hit, but he didn't. The 15-yard roughing call led to an 8-yard TD run by Vick that made it 17-0.
"I was conscious not to lead with my helmet, but the official felt I did,'' said Jackson. "They made the call and said it was illegal and we'll see how it looked on film. I'm not going to change the way I play because I thought it was a nice hit.''
Browns inactives: Receivers Mohamed Massaquoi (foot), Josh Cribbs (hamstring) and Carlton Mitchell (finger), safeties Eric Hagg (knee), T.J. Ward (hamstring) and Usama Young (hamstring), running back Jackson (foot), linebackers Gocong (neck) and Steve Octavien (unspecified), guard Eric Steinbach (back), defensive lineman Jabari Fletcher (knee) and cornerback Dimitri Patterson (unspecified).
Extra points: Shurmur, who spent 10 seasons as an Eagles assistant, spent 10 minutes chatting with his mentor and Eagles coach Andy Reid before the game and was greeted warmly by Eagles owner Jeff Lurie.
Original story:
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/08/montario_hardesty_gets_some_wo.html
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