Saints running back Mark Ingram doesn’t go easy on himself when he loses a fumble.
When he turned over the second of three lost fumbles he’s had in his four seasons with the Saints and in the NFL, Ingram told reporters each of his teammates’ dreams and aspirations are in his hands when he carries the football.
“And I let them down at a critical moment,” Ingram said that day, when the Seahawks defeated the Saints in a divisional-round playoff game in January en route to a Super Bowl championship. “It definitely hurts.”
Ingram on Tuesday said it was as difficult to stomach the third lost fumble of his career, early in a 41-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers (4-8-1) in New Orleans on Sunday that dropped the Saints to 5-8 and gave them their fourth straight setback at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“We just can’t hurt ourselves,” said Ingram, whose fumble was one of two turnovers the Saints had on their first three plays of offense. “That kills you — we just have to take care of the football, be more consistent, take care of each other and support each other. … That’s how we’ll get through this funk — that’s how we’ll get better.”
Ingram spoke Tuesday at a charity event hosted by his foundation, which works to benefit children who have an incarcerated parent. Ingram’s father, former NFL receiver Mark Ingram Sr., is in the middle of serving a prison sentence for bank fraud and money laundering. The foundation established by the former Heisman Trophy winner out of Alabama took several children on a shopping spree at an Academy Sports and Outdoors store in Metairie.
Ingram — who was part of a BCS title with Alabama’s Crimson Tide — has posted several NFL career highs this season: in rushing yards (810), carries (182) and touchdowns (six). Yet the Saints haven’t lived up to expectations by losing eight of their 13 games so far.
Nonetheless, fortunately for them, the Saints would qualify for the postseason without depending on tiebreakers if they win the three games left on their schedule: in Chicago (5-8) on Monday night, versus Atlanta (also 5-8) at home on Dec. 21 and at Tampa Bay (2-11) on Dec. 28.
Ingram accepted the situation for him and his teammates could hardly be more pressure-packed. But he said he welcomed the temporary relief his event provided him and several of his colleagues who accompanied him.
“Just to be able to come here and shop with the kids and see them smile and see them have a great time, that gives you some self-satisfaction — it’s something to be proud of,” Ingram said. “I love to come to these events and have these events and when my teammates have events I love to go support them as well.”
Quotable
“I’m going to go with the ‘Roll Tide’ man, but I respect the running back, too. All of them are on my ballot!” — Ingram, on whether in this year’s race for the Heisman he supported Amari Cooper, a receiver from Alabama who set an SEC record for catches in a season (115), or fellow running back Melvin Gordon, who leads college football with 2,336 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns.
Both Cooper and Gordon are finalists for the highest individual honor in college football with Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, whose passer rating is the best in the nation.