Nyheim Hines expects to be ready for training camp

Browns running back Nyheim Hines is not participating in organized team activities as he works himself back from a torn ACL. He expects to be ready for training camp.

Hines has not played a game since Jan. 22, 2023, in a playoff game for the Bills in a loss to the Bengals. He missed last season after injuring his knee in a freak jet skiing accident last summer.

He plans on being on the field Week 1.

"I processed what happened to me as not a blessing in disguise, but it's something you learn from," Hines said last week, via team transcripts. "Honestly, this is the hardest thing in my life, and I truly believe that everything is on the other side of hard. . . . So, if I can get through this hard part, I think the best times are coming for me."

Hines' return abilities got him a one-year contract with the Browns, but he wants to show he's more than that.

Hines has 1,832 return yards and four touchdowns in his career, and he could be even more of a weapon as a kickoff returner under the new rules. Hines, though, also has 1,205 rushing yards, 1,725 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns from scrimmage in his career since the Colts made him a fourth-round pick in 2018.

"I think people kind of forgot that in Buffalo I was traded. Only played 10 games there, had to learn a new offense [and then] didn't have the opportunity last year to play," Hines said. "So, I'm really excited to go out there and prove the offensive threat I am. And I'm just as big of a threat on offense as I am in the return game if it's passing, catching, kicking, or in empty."

Browns starting running back Nick Chubb is working his way back from a knee injury that ended his 2023 season in Week 2. Jerome Ford and D'Onta Foreman also are on the depth chart ahead of Hines as he competes for playing time and touches.