METAIRIE, La. -- Mark Ingram is coming off the best statistical season of his career. Yet he is now generating just the third-most buzz among New Orleans Saints running backs, thanks to rookie Alvin Kamara's preseason breakout.
But you’ve got to credit Ingram for the way he has publicly handled his new timeshare with super-duper-star Adrian Peterson and Kamara throughout the offseason.
Ingram hasn't complained. He has consistently complimented his teammates. But he also hasn't pretended that he wants anything less than remaining New Orleans' leading man.
Earlier this summer, Ingram told me he wants to be the "best complete back in this game" and said he believes he could do what guys like Le'Veon Bell and David Johnson are doing if given the opportunity.
"Man, you just try and do what you can when your number's called, and hopefully you're doing things well and making plays so you can keep getting the ball," Ingram added on Wednesday. "You know, I want the ball, Adrian wants the ball, Alvin wants the ball, [Travaris] Cadet wants the ball, [Daniel] Lasco wants the ball. All of us want the ball.
"I mean, if you have a running back that doesn't want the ball, that's an issue. So you just kind of wait till your number's called and perform to the best and hopefully that keeps getting your number called more and more."
Ingram and Peterson are both expected to make their preseason debuts Saturday night against the Houston Texans -- and maybe they can provide a highlight or two to match Kamara's 50-yard touchdown run from this past Sunday (and Kamara’s other preseason highlights: a 22-yard run, 22-yard catch and 12-yard run).
But Ingram insisted that he and the other backs don't "sit here in coaches' meetings and talk about our roles."
"Whatever's asked of us, we're all more than willing to do it and we're all capable of doing it," Ingram said. "I feel like the sky's the limit for us. We have three guys that can run the ball -- more than that. Cadet, Lasco, Trey [Edmunds], Vito [Darius Victor]. I mean, this is probably one of the best rooms I've ever been a part of.
"I've been a part of a lot of great rooms here in New Orleans. But just from top to bottom, this is probably the best group. So we just gotta keep working, keep improving, keep growing every day and we'll have a strong run game."
I asked Ingram -- tongue in cheek -- whether he is campaigning for the Saints to become a run-first team despite Sean Payton and Drew Brees routinely posting 5,000-yard passing seasons over the past decade.
"Yeah, yeah. We've got the guys to do it," Ingram said with a smile. "I ain't gonna take the ball out of 9's hands too much. But we need to run that thing, though, for sure."
