Ingram motivated by push from Peterson in Saints’ backfield
METAIRIE, La. — Mark Ingram clearly has no intention of playing second fiddle to Adrian Peterson in the New Orleans Saints’ backfield.
That doesn’t mean there will be an internal rivalry or any animus in the club’s running backs room, or that Ingram is even sensitive to the considerable attention Peterson’s arrival in New Orleans has received.
Peterson “is one of the best running backs that’s ever walked on this planet, especially in our generation,” Ingram said during Saints minicamp this week.
“He is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, clearly, right?” Ingram continued. “I’ve admired him ever since he was a freshman at Oklahoma. We’re in the same backfield now and we’re competing and making each other better.”
While Peterson is 32 and coming off a 2016 meniscal tear that required season-ending knee surgery after only three games, the 27-year-old Ingram is returning from a 1,000-yard season rushing and also had more than 300 yards receiving. A former Heisman Trophy winner with Alabama and 2011 first-round draft choice by New Orleans, Ingram’s career was injury plagued and relatively unproductive early on. Last season, however, he was among the NFL’s best in yards-per-carry at 5.1, which might be the most accurate measure of how well he played in an offense that has long revolved around quarterback Drew Brees’ prolific passing.
“Anytime I have the opportunity to touch the ball regularly, rushing or passing, I am going to be productive,” Ingram said. “I know the last three years I have had the best three years of my career. I have only been getting better.”
Ingram said he and Peterson will keep one another sharp because they “both want to be the best at what we do ... and we’re both going to work our butts off to make sure that happens.”
“There’s no personal vendetta,” Ingram added. “We just come out here and compete.”
Ingram said that off the field he and Peterson have been getting along well and sharing information about their approach to playing their position.