The NFL announced on Tuesday that running back Mark Ingram has been suspended without pay for the first four games for breaking the league’s policy regarding performance-enhancing drugs. After the Saints’ Sept. 30 game against the Giants, Ingram, who finished first on the team in rushing yards with 1,124 yards, is eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, Oct. 1. Ingram will miss games against the Buccaneers, Browns, and Falcons in addition to the Giants.
While pending the four-game suspension, Ingram is allowed to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games.
Ingram hasn’t been around the team facility during voluntary offseason conditioning, however, and he won’t be around for the voluntary OTAs, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday’s NFL Up To The Minute.
Rapoport adds the suspension has hung over Ingram for “several weeks” and the Saints were aware of the situation before the league’s annual three-day selection process.
“They did know before the draft,” Rapoport said. “They never quite can tell if the player is going to win an appeal or not. He’s been battling this for the last several weeks. He found out today he did not win his appeal.”
As Rapoport noted, despite the presence of the NFL’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, Alvin Kamara, Ingram is entering the final year of his contract and is seeking a new one. The Saints’ explosive ground attack, which completed the 2017 season ranked fifth in running (129.4 yards per game), is hurt by Ingram’s absence for the first four games. Together, Ingram and Kamara made league history as the first running back tandem to earn 1,500 or more scrimmage yards in a single season.
On 120 carries, Kamara, who will get his first opportunity to be the featured rusher, amassed 728 yards of carry yardage and eight touchdowns, averaging a staggering 6.1 yards per attempt. On 81 catches, he amassed 826 receiving yards and five touchdowns. “They’re going to go in the direction of Alvin Kamara anyway, clearly going to be their featured guy on offense,” Rapoport stated. “But, obviously Mark Ingram is a nice one-two punch for Kamara and now they will not have him for the first four games of the 2018 season.” Boston Scott was selected by the Saints in the sixth round (201st overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft, strengthening their group of running backs. Trey Edmunds, Jonathan Williams, and Daniel Lasco are also offseason players.
