In his first season with the Baltimore Ravens, running back Mark Ingram was a Pro Bowler. In his second, the former Alabama All-American became an afterthought. And as for the third, Ingram doesn’t seem to think there will be one.
On Monday night, Ingram posted a thank you note to the Ravens, his fans and his teammates on his Instagram page and wrote: “I look forward to my next opportunity because the best is yet to come.”
The Baltimore season ended Saturday night with a 17-3 loss to Buffalo Bills in a second round AFC playoff game.
Ingram was designated as inactive on match day, as he had been in three of the previous four competitions.
Ravens’ running back, Gus Edwards, had almost the same type of season in 2020 as in 2019, when Ingram ran 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns on 202 loads and picked up five TD passes as the Baltimore running back. Edwards had 723 yards and six touchdowns on 144 shipments in 2020, after having 711 yards and two TDs in 133 race attempts in 2019.
But the Ravens added Ohio State running back JK Dobbins in the second round of the NFL 2020 Draft, and he ran 805 yards and nine touchdowns in 134 races as a rookie. Combining Dobbins production with Ingram’s 2020 statistics of 299 yards and two touchdowns in 72 closely loads Ingram’s 2019 race numbers.
Ingram had started the first six games of Baltimore in the 2020 season when an ankle injury sustained in the 30-28 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on October 18 left him aside for two weeks.
Upon his return, Ingram ran 7 yards on seven loads, while playing 23 snaps in two games before being pushed aside again – this time during the Ravens’ coronavirus outbreak. He went from November 23 to December 5 on reserve / COVID-19 and lost a game.
Ingram returned to the field when Baltimore started running back and ran 28 yards in six races in a 34-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on December 8. It started the following week, too, but the first crack of the game was the only one that Ingram played in the Ravens’ 47-42 victory over the Cleveland Browns on December 14.
After that, Ingram played in one of Baltimore’s remaining five games, running 39 yards on nine loads in a 38-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on January 3 at the end of the regular season.
Ingram became the first winner of the Alabama Heisman Trophy in 2009, when the undefeated Crimson Tide won the BCS national championship.
Ingram entered the NFL as a first-round selection in the 2011 NFL Draft. He spent his first eight seasons with the New Orleans Saints before signing a three-year, $ 15 million contract with Baltimore as a free agent in 2019. The final season of the contract calls for Ingram to receive a base salary of $ 5 million in 2021 season.
In 132 NFL regular season games, Ingram has 7,324 yards and 62 touchdowns in 1,595 race attempts and 260 receptions for 1,895 yards and 10 touchdowns. He played in seven postseason games with 299 yards and a TD in 71 running attempts and 10 receptions for 57 yards.
Ingram received Pro Bowl invitations in 2014, 2017 and 2019.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @ AMarkG1.
MORE NFL:
· NFL will not gather potential customers in Indianapolis for the annual match this year
· Carlton Davis helps eliminate “petty assailant” Michael Thomas
· Derrick Henry and Minkah Fitzpatrick gain All-NFL recognition again
49ers promote DeMeco Ryans to defensive coordinator
· Mafia Bills contributing to Bradley Bozeman’s charity
· Four finals defined in the Super Bowl LV tournament
· Brady, Bucs defeated Brees and Saints in the NFL playoffs
· Mack Wilson impacts the NFL playoffs in the Browns-Chiefs game
· Levi Wallace records his first sack in the NFL in Bills’ playoff victory
· JK Scott punts, passes the Packers victory in the playoff