By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
HOUSTON, Texas -- Amid all the controversy surrounding Peyton Hillis, in the face of injuries to Hillis and Montario Hardesty, Houston native Chris Ogbonnaya will strap a underperforming running game on his back Sunday and try to carry the Browns to victory against his former team. 
With Hillis ruled out Saturday with his pulled hamstring and Hardesty officially ruled out Friday with his torn calf muscle, Ogbonnaya will make his first NFL start against his hometown team -- one that had him on its practice squad less than three weeks ago.
"I look at this league and crazy things happen for a reason," he said. "Crazy things happen all the time and so that next person in line just has to be prepared, ready to step up and be ready to go when that opportunity presents itself."
For his part, nothing fazes coach Pat Shurmur anymore. He's watched all three of his top running backs go down for all or parts of this season and is matter-of-fact about starting Ogbonnaya and playing Thomas Clayton, who was signed as a free agent on Tuesday.
"Let me say this, I love my job," said Shurmur. "I love the profession and I really do enjoy the challenges of trying to put together a team that's going to win a game on Sunday. I think that's the part that stimulates me.
"Nothing is surprising in this business and I've kind of made the promise to myself that nothing will surprise me. You put it together the best you can with the guys and they've had three great days of practice. ... I hope we can go out and put together an effort where the results are winning."
With both Hillis and Hardesty expected to miss at least a couple of weeks, Ogbonnaya will be relied upon to try to rejuvenate the league's 29th-ranked running game, one that's averaging 87.6 yards per game.
"It's terrible and tough with guys going down, but it's part of football and I'm just going to work as hard as I can to get back," said Hardesty, who injured the calf early in last Sunday's game in San Francisco. "I didn't know the calf was that important. I thought it would be maybe a couple of days. I honestly thought it was going to be a little less than what it was."
On the bright side, Ogbonnaya and Clayton have come in with great attitudes and work ethics and are hungry to prove they belong in this league.
"I think they've displayed a sense of professionalism that's good," said Shurmur. "That's what you need when you bring in guys and try and get them up to speed quickly. I appreciate that and again, I hope they can go out and perform well."
The two newcomers have been a breath of fresh air for players who have grown weary of Hillis' erratic behavior. The captains group -- of which Hillis is a part -- talked to Hillis on Wednesday to try to get him to re-focus on football. In addition to confronting him about things like getting married on a Tuesday instead of getting treatment and launching football from midfield to the crossbar despite being inactive with a hamstring injury, they wanted to extend a lifeline to a "player who was drowning," as one described it.
"It's been tough, but I think the two running backs we've got, they do a great job, and I'm excited to see Obi get some more carries and to see what he can do when he's the featured back for a full couple of games," said left tackle Joe Thomas. "We had Thomas a little bit last year and I think the guys respected him and thought he did a pretty good job when he had his opportunity. I think overall everybody's really excited to see what he does on Sundays in front of the bright lights."
Ogbonnaya, who also spent 2010 on the Texans' practice squad, will face a stout Texans defense ranked sixth against the run, allowing an average of just 97.4 yards per game.
"I think there is a little irony [in starting against the Texans], but it's part of this league and you've just got to be ready to play," he said. "They've got a great front seven and we've really got to be on top of our game, make sure we're making the right reads as runners and our O-line is blocking about as well as they can."
Ogbonnya, who rushed for 37 yards on 11 carries last week in relief of Hardesty, keeps in touch with many of his former teammates.
"I've got good memories. Great people. Great teammates. Great coaches," he said. "A lot of my good friends are there. I spent nearly two seasons there and so it's gonna be fun to go against them. A lot of great friends on defense like and it'll be a good opportunity for us to get better as a team and hopefully come out with a win."
One of Ogbonnaya's good friends, defensive end Antonio Smith, promises to show no mercy. He's tied for seventh in the AFC with 4.5 sacks this season and leads the team with six tackles for a loss.
"No, no slack at all," said Smith. "He might get a little bit extra, just because he is my boy."
Smith hopes his buddy excels with the Browns, but not this Sunday. "I'm happy for him," he said. "I'm an underdog fan, so if he makes his claim for the Browns, I'm more happy for him. He's my boy, but we've got to hit him. I think he'd understand though. Don't you think?"
Clayton, who spent two games on the Browns' active roster last season, is also looking forward to playing time. He'll spell Ogbonnaya, play some on third down and also play on special teams.
"This is what you play the game for," he said. "I'm a downhill runner. I'll go between the tackles or take it outside, whatever they ask me to do."
Quarterback Colt McCoy, who spent four years with Ogbonnaya at Texas, is looking forward to him having some help this week from Clayton.
"At halftime [Ogbonnaya was] gassed -- and he's on special teams, he's the personal protector in punt. So the guy played almost every play. By the end of the third, fourth quarter when we started to making a run, he's gassed.
"I think getting Thomas caught up to speed where he can come in and protect a little bit, run the ball, I think that'll help us this week."
Things can't really get much worse at the position. Or can they?
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