Peyton Hillis is playing in the Thursday, December 8, 2011 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Colt McCoy and Montario Hardesty will also be in uniform and on the field. They are a bit banged up, but ready to take on the black and gold and, hopefully, bring a win back to Cleveland.

The only really notable player that will not take the field is T.J. Ward – a Browns’ safety – and he will be replaced by Usama Young as usual.

Now, can the Browns win? This is always a question with the Browns unfortunately. We had a shot against the Ravens last week, especially when the Ravens missed two field goals.

The receivers have to actually catch the ball. I know, I know, this should go without saying, but the Browns have the NFL record for most drops. To be fair, the Browns are actually tied for most drops with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. I digress, McCoy has finally started to throw some relatively decent passes, but if these are not caught [by Browns' receivers] then those passes really do not mean much. Also, if those passes are caught by the opposing team, then big problems can occur.

There is also a chance that the Steelers may simply think this will be an easy win and underestimate the Browns and therefore lose to the Browns. Okay, this is a stretch and perhaps just wishful thinking, but we have seen it happen in sports before.

“In the two meetings last season, the Steelers outscored the Browns 69-19,” reports Cleveland.com. It is also important to note that the Steelers who are taking the field are healthy, while a few of the Browns taking the field are not.

To go back to the health of the Browns. This is a big concern. One really good sack to McCoy and he could be in big trouble. McCoy is necessary and he needs to be on the field in the best shape he can be. Of course, Hillis seems like a flower and even a little sack could put him out.

R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen is a lifelong Browns fan who grew up in a household of Browns’ fans. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and still lives there. Regardless of the trials and tribulations the Browns have been through, she remains loyal, albeit honest about her home team. Follow Rose on Twitter @Rose_Kitchen

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

BEREA – Browns running back Peyton Hillis participated in team drills today for the first time since re-injuring his pulled hamstring in practice on Nov. 4.

Hillis, who’s missed the past five games with the hamstring,  took a handful of reps during the early 15 minutes of practice open to the media, including taking a couple of handoffs.

Coach Pat Shurmur had ruled Hillis out on Monday for Sunday’s game in Cincinnati,  but a Browns spokesman said that can change.

After practice on Thursday, Shurmur said in a statement, “Peyton Hillis went through a rigorous workout afterwards and performed extremely well. He is making progress and may be limited in practice on Friday.”

After Hillis re-injured the hamstring on a practice run Nov. 4, he spiked his helmet to the ground and threw the ball in frustration. A few weeks later, the whole area around the hamsting was still black and blue.

The Browns are expecting Montario Hardesty back for the Bengals game, but Hillis would be an added bonus against the third-ranked run defense. Shurmur will meet with the media after practice, about 1 p.m.

In other Browns news:

* Right tackle Tony Pashos was absent from practice today, and Artis Hicks started in his place. Pashos’ wife is due with their first baby on Tuesday, but it’s not yet known if that’s why he’s missing.

* Defensive end Jayme Mitchell, who sat out Thursday with an ankle injury, stood and watched duriing the 15 open minutes.

*Safety Usama Young did not participate in drills during the open portion and was replaced by rookie Eric Hagg.

* Defensive lineman Brian Schaefering, who sat out Thursday with an ankle injury, was back in drills today.

Read More: nfl injury report, cleveland browns injury report, peyton hillis injury, Peyton Hillis (RB – CLE), Chris Ogbonnaya (RB – CLE), Montario Hardesty (RB – CLE), Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis returned to practice on Thursday as he continues to battle back from a hamstring injury. The return was all the more important because he not only took part in individual drills, but also took snaps with the first team offense. Hillis had either not participated in practice over the last two weeks, or he had been limited to individual drills.

Barring any setbacks, Peyton Hillis would appear to be the likely start on Sunday in Houston against the Texans. It is not a fantastic matchup, but getting Hillis back out on the field would bode well for longer term fantasy prospects. Chris Ogbonnaya took a lot of snaps Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers when Montario Hardesty went down, but he would be Hillis’ backup this Sunday against Houston.

We will have the full Thursday injury report when it comes out and from there we can keep an eye on Hillis’ practice status heading into Friday. If he has any sort of regression, lineup considerations can be adjusted accordingly.

For more on the Browns, check out Dawgs By Nature. For more on fantasy football, check out Fake Teams. Follow @sbnationfantasy on Twitter.

Read More: Ray Ventrone (DB – CLE), Scott Fujita (LB – CLE), Peyton Hillis (RB – CLE), Mohamed Massaquoi (WR – CLE), Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers

The Cleveland Browns injury report on Thursday was worse than the team’s opening week report on Wednesday as the team continues to get ready for the San Francisco 49ers this weekend. As reported earlier Thursday morning, running back Peyton Hillis didn’t partake in practice on Thursday after being limited the day before while Mohamed Massaquoi and Ben Watson both missed another day of practice.

As written earlier this morning, it’s difficult to say exactly what caused Hillis to be downgraded overnight.

Peyton Hillis is still hopeful that he’s ready to play when the Browns take on the 49ers on Sunday. He did practice with the team on Wednesday and was put through a higher workload than some believed he would be. Now it’s looking like he either did too much, or he just isn’t ready to do more regardless, as Tony Grossi is reporting on Twitter that Hillis isn’t practicing with the team on Thursday.

Ray Ventrone was the only other player on Thursday that didn’t practice while Scott Fujita was able to return to full practice after being limited on Wednesday.