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The New Orleans Saints reactivated running back Mark Ingram II from the COVID-19 reserve list on Friday, meaning they will have all three of the players who were in the league’s health and safety protocols a week ago back in action — defensive end Cameron Jordan and wide receiver Ty Montgomery returned to practice earlier this week.
But the biggest loss on Sunday will be Saints head coach Sean Payton, who tested positive for COVID-19 and was ruled out of Week 15’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s going to be tough for New Orleans to work around his absence, but they’ve done it before. It’s just another added hurdle in front of them.
As for Ingram: he only played in five games since returning to the Saints in a trade deadline deal with the Houston Texans, but already ranks fourth on the team with 363 total scrimmage yards (averaging 46.6 rushing yards and 26.0 receiving yards per game), trailing only running back Alvin Kamara (985) and wide receivers Deonte Harris (555) and Marquez Callaway (443).
It’ll be good to get Ingram back in the lineup to take some pressure off of Kamara and add more playmaking ability to an offense that’s sorely lacked it. Ingram said Friday that he experienced only minor symptoms while away from the team, but added: “I was angry when I couldn’t play last week. I woke up Sunday angry.”
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