After he had rushed for 95 yards on 20 carries on a wet and slippery field ... After he had gained 39 yards of an 87-yard, 9:47 drive that iced the game for his team ... After he had spent the night running through the middle of the Jets D as easily as an axe splits wood, 49ers RB Garrison Hearst walked off the field without a trace of a limp -- which may have been his most impressive move of the night.

This was the first heavy load Hearst had lifted since he broke his ankle in the playoffs in 1998. The injury was so gruesome that the TV network carrying the game stopped showing the replay. The question wasn't whether Hearst, who had just completed his second straight 1,000-yard season and been voted to his first Pro Bowl, would play again, but if he would walk again. At least that's what doctors were wondering.

Apparently Hearst, who won the league's Comeback Player of the Year award in 1995, had different ideas. After the Jets game, when a reporter asked Hearst if he doubted his ability to come back again, he didn't even bother opening his mouth to answer. He just kept rubbing lotion on his shoulders and shook his head no.

"After two years off, he showed he's getting his flair back," said QB Jeff Garcia.

At first, Hearst's comeback seemed to be more about improving his self-esteem than helping the Niners. Even after he earned the starting job during training camp, most people thought rookie Kevan Barlow would be getting the majority of carries by midseason. When the 49ers beat writers held their fantasy league draft, Hearst wasn't taken until the first pick of the sixth round, two rounds later than the rookie.

But against the Jets it was Barlow, who carried the ball nine times for 83 yards, serving as the complement, not the replacement, for Hearst.

"It seemed like it took a while," Hearst said after the game. "But the bottom line is I'm back."

Chad Millman is a frequent contributor to ESPN The Magazine. E-mail chad.x.millman@espnmag.com.