Cleveland Browns Preseason: Rookie RB Montario Hardesty To Practice

Cleveland Browns rookie second-round pick Montario Hardesty will be suiting up to practice with his teammates for the first time since training camp started on July 31.

According to the Browns' official Twitter page, both Hardesty and PUP-listed cornerback Coye Francies will both practice for the first time with the team today.

The running back earned rave reviews during rookie minicamp, organized team activities (OTAs), and mandatory minicamp mostly due to the fact that Jerome Harrison was holding out for more money and a long-term deal.

After Hardesty's press attention and ability to transition into the Browns' offense so quickly, Harrison cut his holdout short in the middle of the OTAs.

Then the injury bug hit Hardesty once again and that brought the fear that the Browns picked a player who not only had a bad history of knee injuries in college, but that injury bug had followed him into the NFL, too.

Starting only in his senior year as a fifth-year player due to the NCAA granting him an extra year of eligibility because of his injury, Hardesty ran hard and was healthy for the entire 2009 season amassing over 1,300 yards.

Hardesty's great offseason performances not only earned himself praise from the coaching staff, but he was also beginning to look like the type of rookie who could replace Harrison as the starting running back.

Harrison may have lucked out as the knee sprain Hardesty has been recovering from all training camp and preseason allowed Harrison to assume starter status on the depth chart.

But now that Hardesty is back, it will be interesting to see how he plays back into the fold.

Will he be able to take the top spot back as the Browns' 2010 starting running back?

Not too sure since today is his first practice.

Hardesty is sure to get some reps in this Saturday's game versus the Detroit Lions, and he could also see a ton of reps in the final preseason game against the Chicago Bears to get into regular season form since he missed so much time.

Another interesting thought is where Peyton Hillis fits into the rotation now, especially since he has had the biggest impact at running back in two preseason games so far.

Regardless of how the Browns' coaching staff works the running back reps, it is nice to see and be able to talk about a great amount of depth at the position, which is always a good thing.

Hardesty is now back and it will be interesting to see him in a game this weekend, and it will also be interesting to see how Harrison responds to this during this weekend's game.

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(Also posted on Dawg Scooper: THE Cleveland Browns Blog)