Mark Ingram finds new team in NFL – AL.com

Running back Mark Ingram is joining the Houston Texans for the 2021 NFL season, ESPN and the Houston Chronicle reported on Thursday.

The Baltimore Ravens released the former Alabama All-American on Jan. 19 – 10 days before the Texans hired David Culley as their new head coach. Culley spent the previous two seasons as the Ravens’ assistant head coach and wide-receivers coach.

The reports indicated Ingram would sign a one-year contract worth up to $3 million.

Houston had only two running backs with more than 65 rushing yards last season – David Johnson and Duke Johnson – and finished next-to-last in the NFL in rushing yards. David Johnson ran for 691 yards and six touchdowns on 147 carries and caught 33 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns. Duke Johnson ran for 235 yards and one touchdown on 77 carries and caught 28 passes for 249 yards and one touchdown.

In the past two weeks, the Texans restructured David Johnson’s contract to keep him from becoming a salary-cap casualty and released Duke Johnson.

After running for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns on 202 carries and catching 26 passes for 247 yards and five TDs in 2019 for Baltimore, Ingram had 299 yards and two touchdowns on 72 carries and six receptions for 50 yards in 2020.

Ingram joined the Ravens for a three-year, $15 million contract as a traditional free agent after eight seasons with the New Orleans Saints.

In his first season with the Ravens, Ingram delivered his third 1,000-yard rushing campaign and earned his third Pro Bowl invitation.

After Ingram started Baltimore’s first six games of the 2020 season, an ankle injury sustained in a 30-28 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 18 sidelined him for two weeks.

When he returned, Ingram ran for 7 yards on seven carries while playing 23 snaps in two games before being sidelined again – this time during the Ravens’ coronavirus outbreak. He spent Nov. 23 through Dec. 5 on reserve/COVID-19.

Ingram returned to the field as Baltimore’s starting running back and ran for 28 yards on six carries in a 34-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 8. He started the next week, too, but the first snap of the game was the only one that Ingram played in the Ravens’ 47-42 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 14.

Ingram played in one of Baltimore’s five remaining games, running for 39 yards on nine carries in a 38-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 3 in the regular-season finale, as the Ravens went with J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards at running back.

In 132 NFL regular-season games, Ingram has 7,324 yards and 62 touchdowns on 1,595 rushing attempts and 260 receptions for 1,895 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s played in seven postseason games with 299 yards and one TD on 71 rushing attempts and 10 receptions for 57 yards.

ALABAMA’S TOP 10 NFL RUSHERS

Ingram received Pro Bowl invitations in 2014, 2017 and 2019.

Ingram entered the NFL as the 28th player picked in the 2011 NFL Draft. While at Alabama, Ingram became the Crimson Tide’s first Heisman Trophy winner, earning the award while playing for the 2009 BCS national championship team.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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