With all the excitement coming out of New Orleans Saints practice over the way Adrian Peterson looks, it’s easy to forget that Peterson may not even be the team’s starter. That job will likely belong to Mark Ingram, who insists he is not concerned about losing it.
On Sunday, Ingram told reporters he is not afraid of having to compete for playing time — even against one of the greatest backs of all time.
“It doesn’t matter who’s in the backfield with me, who I’m competing with, I’m always going to give my 100 percent all,” Ingram said, per Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. “I respect him and everything he’s done. He’s still a great player; he’s overcome a lot of adversity. But at the end of the day, I’m going to compete, no matter who it is. Not afraid of competition, no matter how high on the totem pole they are. I’m always going to compete, I’m always going to give my best.”
Ingram, who sat out of the first two weeks of OTAs with an undisclosed injury, said he and Peterson feel they can make each other better players.
“We help each other,” Ingram explained. “He’s new to the system, so I can help him with some play calls and small nuances within the offense. And he’s an elite runner, one of the best that we’ve seen in this game. So just to see how he runs, how he practices, makes us all better.”
After hearing some of the things Saints players and coaches have said about Peterson early on, you have to assume the 32-year-old is going to get plenty of touches. Sean Payton will likely keep both backs heavily involved, but Ingram may not carry the ball more than 200 times like he did last season.
