Browns running back Peyton Hillis had a stunning turnaround this week in his recovery from a pulled hamstring and expects to play Sunday in Cincinnati.

"I'm looking very positive for this game and hopefully everything will work out and I'm praying that it will," Hillis said. "We don't want to push it too fast but we're all shooting for this Sunday. I'm excited I feel 100 percent again."

Browns coach Pat Shurmur had on Monday ruled Hillis out of the game, thinking he was at least a week away. But after Hillis' unexpected improvement, he upgraded Hillis on Friday to a game-time decision. On Thursday, the Browns put Hillis through a rigorous workout after practice and he came through it well. He followed that with a strong performance in team drills Friday -- one in which he ran full speed -- and Shurmur is now optimistic, too. Hillis is officially listed as questionable.

"Nothing surprises me," Shurmur said. "He's made huge progress this week. Again, because he hasn't played ball in a long time, I think it's still important that I'm cautious with his return."

Hillis attributed his speedier rehab to a platelet-rich plasma injection he received in the hamstring 21/2 weeks ago. It's a therapy that uses high levels of platelets -- in this case from his own blood -- containing growth factors to accelerate the healing process.

"It's supposed to make you heal a lot faster than what it was and that's obviously what it did," Hillis said. "I'm steadily improving day by day."

If Hillis plays, the Browns suddenly have a cornucopia of running backs. Montario Hardesty, who is also listed as questionable with a calf injury, is "ready to roll" in Cincinnati, Shurmur said.

Shurmur was uncertain Friday who would start -- when Hillis was ruled out, Hardesty was slated to start ahead of Chris Ogbonnaya, who ran for 115 yards against the Jaguars last Sunday.

Shurmur did make it clear that Hillis is still his No. 1 back when he's ready for full duty.

"If our backs are healthy, then Hillis is the starter, backed up by Montario, backed up by Obie," Shurmur said. "That's ideal. They'll be up and they'll all be in there playing and I think they're going to have to find a way to get in their rhythm with the plays that they have."

Hillis, who missed five games with the hamstring injury and one with strep throat, now has a chance to put his star-crossed season behind him and try be the back he was last season, when he rushed for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Hillis said the events of this season haven't been as much of a nightmare for him as it might seem. The laundry list includes taking the advice of his agent not to play with strep throat and teammates wondering if it was contract-related; throwing long passes pregame in San Francisco while inactive; skipping a Boys and Girls Club appearance on Halloween; getting married midweek in Arkansas instead of receiving treatment to play; and an "intervention" by teammates trying to help him get his head back on straight.

"[The portrayal has been] way too dramatic," he said. "Things happen. I guess when more people are looking at you, everything seems more severe. I've got to be responsible and understand that as well. As far as this year goes, I just look at it like bumps in the road you have to overcome. I've just got to find a way to overcome all of this and be the player I used to be."

He said he hasn't changed, despite some teammates saying he's a different guy this year.

"No, I believe that as far as me as a person, I'm still the same guy," he said. "You get a few bumps in the road and you have to rebound from that and do your best on and off the field. Hopefully you can go out when you can and play ball and I don't care who you are, when you go out and you do well, it's going to make you feel better as a person and on this team."

He described his meeting with the players' captains group "a bunch of hearsay. People are going to believe or think or hear whatever, but me and the guys are fine. We never thought twice. They just wanted me to get healthy and if I can, help us win. It was very professional. There was no bad blood."

Hillis said sitting out the past five games has been difficult.

"It's awful, I mean just to the point of getting treatment and knowing you can't play, standing on the sideline seeing how you lose close games and wondering you could've been out there and you could've helped and stuff like that, so I've been working my best to get out there and I'm excited about the opportunity."

Hillis said he tried to come back too early, when on Nov. 4, two days before the Houston game, he came up limping after a run in practice.

"Maybe I pushed it too much," he said. "But you know, that's it, just me being a player and wanting to get out there and play and things just happen."

He said the time off has made him hungrier.

"I miss playing football," he said. "It's what I was brought up my whole life to do. I'm excited to get out there playing a game. I'm excited about winning games. I'm excited to see how I can play during this time. I'm excited to make adjustments and improvements for myself and the team."