Jamal Lewis likes Hardesty

Associated Press

BEREA

The Browns still have a punishing running back from Tennessee who wears No. 31.

Only Jamal Lewis is gone and Montario Hardesty is at Cleveland’s rookie minicamp.

Hardesty, who has known Lewis since his freshman year with the Volunteers, was a second-round pick in last month’s NFL draft after the Browns traded up to get him.

“He was at some of the scrimmages and he liked how I ran the ball,” Hardesty said of Lewis. “So he took me under his wing and told me some things about how to prepare myself for college and prepare myself for the next level.”

Hardesty now hopes to help fill the void left by his mentor, who was released in February after post-concussion symptoms ruined his final season with the Browns.

Cleveland entered last month’s draft looking for a physical runner to complement Jerome Harrison and gave Philadelphia a third-round pick and two fifth-rounders to move up 12 spots and take Hardesty at the bottom of the second round.

“He was a physical runner, a punishing runner,” Browns coach Eric Mangini said. “He enjoyed contact. I thought those things were real positives. I think those are real positives for any team and I think it’s a real positive in this division.”

Harrison rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the last three games, including a memorable 286-yard performance against the Chiefs. He finished the season with 862 rushing yards — 561 over the final three games — but the Browns weren’t convinced that his 5-foot-9 frame could endure the pounding of a full season.

They got Peyton Hillis from Denver as part of the Brady Quinn trade before adding Hardesty, who rushed for 1,345 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior.

Injuries wrecked his first few years at Tennessee.

He was granted a medical hardship after undergoing multiple surgeries on his right knee as a freshman. He missed time the following season with ankle problems and then was limited as a junior because of a stress fracture in his foot.

The injuries didn’t scare off the Browns, who liked his style and the fact he came from the Southeastern Conference.