ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Peyton Hillis is healthy again and he wants the ball.

Linebacker Tim Crowder found that out firsthand when the Denver Broncos’ versatile fullback, who’s getting increased snaps at tailback, delivered the biggest hit of training camp so far.
In a 1-on-1 tackling drill, Hillis leveled Crowder, who stayed down for 90 seconds while waiting for the feeling to return to his arm and the cobwebs to clear his head.
“It hurts me to see a guy laying there,” said Hillis, who apologized to Crowder. “It breaks my heart because you never know what’s going to happen. You never know what kind of injury a guy has. I’m glad he came up all right.”
A day later, Crowder was still somewhat stunned by the blow.
“My point of view was that it was a drill set up for failure for the defensive players,” Crowder said Sunday. “They tell (the ballcarrier) to make one move, and he didn’t make one move. So, I had to throttle down. He got me, he ran me over.”
One move? Hillis said Crowder should know better.
“I’m not a little, shifty guy who likes to make moves. I like to be a straight-line guy, run over somebody if I can,” Hillis explained.
With the hard hit, Hillis served notice to new coach Josh McDaniels and his staff that he can deliver his bone-crushing blows even when he has the ball in his hands.
“Every guy likes to run the ball,” said Hillis, who energized the Broncos last season when he ran for 343 yards and scored six touchdowns before tearing his right hamstring against Kansas City on Dec. 7, ending his season.
The Broncos sorely missed his toughness and production as they lost their last three games to miss the playoffs for a third straight season, leading to a coaching change and a roster makeover.
McDaniels has given Hillis increased snaps in one-back sets at tailback and likes his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. So Hillis figures to get more carries even in a deep backfield that includes LaMont Jordan, Correll Buckhalter, Ryan Torain, and eventually first-round draft pick Knowshon Moreno.
“Peyton’s a very valuable player and versatile and can create some matchup problems for defenses if we can use him right,” McDaniels said.
With so much depth in the backfield, Hillis is content to keep serving as a jack-of-all trades, a role he embraces in the NFL but wasn’t something he relished at Arkansas.
“The more versatile you can be, the longer you’ll be in the NFL,” Hillis said.
At Arkansas, Hillis was a fullback, tailback, tight end, wide receiver and kick returner. However, he made his mark by boring holes for 2008 first-round draft picks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, who got the star treatment.
Hillis amassed 2,624 all-purpose yards and scored 23 touchdowns in three years with the Razorbacks, but he feels he could have contributed a lot more.
“I didn’t run the ball very much in college. I sat out most of the time and played a little slot receiver, a little tight end, a little fullback but that’s pretty much about it,” he said.
Asked if his skills could have been put to better use at Arkansas, Hillis demurred: “I still have a bad taste in my mouth about college and I don’t really like to look back on it. I have to look forward from here on out.”
Hillis, who was born in Conway, Ark., never considered leaving Fayetteville until it was time to go pro.
“I loved Arkansas and I loved the program and I loved the people there,” Hillis said. “I love my state. I always wanted to stay loyal to my state.”
So, he just had to bite his tongue and bide his time.
Now, he embraces his versatility.
“In the NFL, it’s all about what you can do, not who you are,” Hillis said. “They just want the best player to play. And if that’s me that day, then great. If it’s not, then I understand. But it’s very fair here and I like that.”
When the Broncos were going through an injury epidemic at running back last year, they uncovered a gem in Hillis, whose rugged style gave the struggling offense a nasty aura before his season-ending hamstring injury. Hillis is one of few Broncos who are openly excited about the full-pads practices favored by McDaniels after his predecessor, Mike Shanahan, shunned them almost entirely.
“I feel like I can show what I got in full pads,” Hillis said. “I’m not a guy that looks good in just a helmet and shorts. It gets a little sore, it gets a little rough, but you know, I like it.”
And Crowder can attest to that.