A few Twitter followers, @picklerino, @craigary and @BroncosForums, wondered about the lack of touches for Peyton Hillis on Sunday, and whether the absence of Spencer Larsen had anything to do with it. Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said that not having Larsen, who suffered a shoulder injury in a freak accident before the game, might have had a little to do with Hillis getting only one carry and one catch against Cincinnati. Larsen’s absence left Hillis as the only fullback.

“It could have affected where he’s going in and all of that stuff,” McDaniels said. “If Spencer was there, Spencer could have played some fullback.”

More than that, McDaniels said the flow of the game – and the Broncos facing long situations on second and third down because of their struggles on first down – limited Hillis’ chances.

“The way we played the game dictated that’s how it went,” McDaniels said.

McDaniels said Hillis could be a bigger part of the offense in certain weeks.

“There might be games when Peyton gets, 12, 15, 20 carries, I don’t know,” McDaniels said. “We’re going to see how it goes.”

While 12-20 carries seems like a lot for Hillis unless there are injuries, McDaniels’ offense will spread the ball around. He said that he doesn’t believe in getting players a certain amount of touches but who gets the ball is dictated by the defense’s coverage.

Hillis wasn’t worried about his touches, figuring he will have games where he is more involved. He said the team doesn’t know what the gameplan is until mid-week, and roles can change.

“I think that’s part of the plan and what Coach McDaniels had in mind, and he’s the head coach and led us to a victory,” Hillis said. “It doesn’t matter how many carries I had, as long as we won the game.”

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