Trent Richardson practiced Thursday and expects to play through a rib cartilage injury against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but he won't do it alone.
The Cleveland Browns running back will wear a flak jacket to protect his sore rib area, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reported Thursday.
"It's bulletproof," Browns coach Pat Shurmur told the newspaper. "He told me he already was."
Shurmur plans to lean on Richardson for the bulk of the carries but won't hesitate to mix in Montario Hardesty and Chris Ogbonnaya if the rookie experiences pain.
Hardesty (15 rushes for 56 yards with a go-ahead touchdown) was productive in relief of Richardson in last Sunday's win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Richardson, however, doesn't plan to miss much time.
"They're gonna have to put like a little special pad on my ribs," Richardson said Wednesday. "But my game's not going to be different. I'm still going to play physical and play hard-nosed football, smash-mouth football. That's what I was brought up to do, and that's how I know how to play football."
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.