Whether he ends up starting in place of the injured Alvin Kamara or simply sees a heavier workload for the New Orleans Saints, Mark Ingram is awful close to claiming the team record for all-time rushing yards. He’s up to 6,077 in his Saints career, trailing only the great Deuce McAllister at 6,096. 20 more rushing yards in this week’s game with the Tennessee Titans will put Ingram over the top.
If he’s running as well as he did last week, he just might do it on the opening drive. Ingram jumped out of the gate with carries of 9, 9, and 11 yards on the Saints’ opening drive against the Atlanta Falcons, but a series of offensive miscues and defensive mistakes put Atlanta on top by 18 points, prompting Sean Payton to abandon the run game. If the Saints had been able to stick with it, maybe Ingram sets that record in front of a home crowd.
Instead he’ll be attempting it at Nissan Stadium, which he’s made his peace with. The Saints will play the Titans this week and visit the Philadelphia Eagles afterwards, so it’s going to be a while before they return to the Caesars Superdome
“But I think it would be a special moment no matter where it’s at, obviously being able to celebrate it in the home stadium in New Orleans, I think that would have been something that would have been cool. But I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Ingram said during his Thursday media availability session, adding: “So if I make it to the next home game without the record something bad really happened.”
The Saints have a history of setting big records in Tennessee. Michael Thomas rest the NFL’s single-season receptions record in 2019, a 38-28 road win for New Orleans that overcame a 14-0 first quarter deficit. Hopefully they can find as much success this time.
