Alvin Kamara dismisses the notion that his approach to his second NFL camp should change because of the four-game suspension looming over fellow Saints Pro Bowl running back Mark Ingram.

Whether Kamara and the running game are as effective without Ingram when the regular season opens remains to be seen. But Kamara expresses confidence in New Orleans’ plan to deal with it.

”We work hard regardless. If Mark was in the first four weeks Adam Shaheen Jersey , I’d still be working the same,” Kamara asserted after the Saints’ second practice of training camp Friday. ”Of course, (Ingram) wants to be playing, but he’s got to take his four weeks – and we’ve got playmakers.”

Those playmakers include two new veteran running backs acquired in free agency to ensure depth at the position.

In the weeks leading up to training camp, the Saints signed 29-year-old Shane Vereen and 27-year-old Terrence West.

”We feel like those are two young candidates, two backs that, be it they’re a little different in what they do, but we felt that they could help us and then with regards to Mark’s snaps,” Saints coach Sean Payton, who missed Friday’s practice to attend former colleague Tony Sparano’s funeral, said this week. ”Shane’s got a lot of versatility, is someone that we feel like is very good in protection. Also, he’s a very good receiver. With Terrance, you see a physical runner. So Darrell Green Jersey , both of those players we felt like would help us.”

The Saints ranked fifth in rushing last season, but that ranking alone doesn’t do justice to the contributions Ingram and Kamara made to the offense overall.

Ingram had arguably his finest season yet with 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing to go with 416 yards receiving. Kamara, the 2017 NFL offensive rookie of the year , had 728 yards and eight TDs rushing to go with 826 yards and five TDs receiving.

Yet, while Ingram’s absence would appear to be a tough blow, the era of Payton and quarterback Drew Brees has produced highly effective offense with a wide range of personnel getting the ball.

Brees also uses high-percentage short passes to augment the running game. That made New Orleans an attractive destination for Vereen, who has a history of helping offenses as a receiver out of the backfield more than as a rusher.

”It’s a great opportunity for me,” Vereen said. ”What really brought me here was the culture that they built around here. Definitely this is an offense that a lot of guys want to play in.

”The way they use their backs is pretty similar to what I’m used to and it’s the type of system that I feel like I can fit into,” Vereen continued. ”Just the way they spread the ball around and the points that they put up, it seems like a good place to play.”

As a member of New England’s 2014 championship squad, Vereen had 391 yards and two TDs rushing to go with 447 yards and three TDs receiving during the regular season. He also had 64 yards receiving in a Super Bowl victory over Seattle.

”I’ve admired him from afar – really respected what he was able to do in New England and then obviously in New York” with the Giants, Brees said. ”He’s got a great skill set, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”

Terrence West comes to the Saints after an injury plagued 2017 with Baltimore. But two seasons ago http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/davante-adams-jersey , he had 774 yards and five TDs with the Ravens.

Meanwhile, Ingram, who can participate in camp and preseason games, said he is committed to striving for his best season yet over the 12 games for which he will be eligible.

”I’m here every day busting my butt, preparing myself to have another great season, to have my best season of my career. That’s how I approach it,” Ingram said. ”Of course, you want to rush for 1,000 yards. It’ll be more of a challenge in 12 games, but it’s attainable.

”I’m going to do everything I can to be in the best shape, the best condition – the best me – so I can help this team.”

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SAN FRANCISCO — The San Diego Padres will put a franchise-record streak on the line with an overworked bullpen Sunday afternoon when they wrap up a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

The Padres will be looking to split the series in a game matching rookie right-handers Eric Lauer (3-4, 5.47 ERA) of the Padres against Dereck Rodriguez (2-1, 4.56) of the Giants.

Lauer has pitched well in his last two starts, allowing three runs in 11 2/3 innings Pernell McPhee Jersey , but he has failed to pitch into the seventh inning in either, which could become an issue Sunday.

The Padres were forced to turn Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Giants into a bullpen affair after scheduled starter Jordan Lyles experienced tightness in his right forearm during warmups.

Five regular members of the bullpen, including emergency starter Matt Strahm, combined to throw 133 pitches, one day after Padres manager Andy Green used five relievers, including two of the same guys, to secure a 6-2 victory.

Green admitted the rotating-relievers thing, which included using three in the same inning Friday night for the first time this season, has been a bit dizzying.

“It’s more a matchup thing,” he explained of his three trips to the mound in the same inning. “It didn’t necessarily work. We ended up giving up a run. I liked the way it played up to that point.”

By allowing three, two and five runs in the first three games of the series, the Padres extended their streak of allowing five or fewer runs on the road to 13 consecutive games.

Lauer worked five innings in an earlier start against the Giants this season, allowing three runs. He did not get a decision in a game in which Green went to the bullpen four times.

The 23-year-old survived a shaky start in the April 30 outing, allowing a single to Gorkys Hernandez http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/prince-amukamara-jersey , a triple to Andrew McCutchen and a double to Buster Posey in the first three batters.

It was his only previous matchup with the Giants.

The Giants, meanwhile, have struggled out of the bullpen in the series after Mark Melancon came on to complete Madison Bumgarner’s shutout with a scoreless ninth in Thursday’s 3-0 victory.

San Francisco relievers have allowing five runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings in the last two games, and have proved especially vulnerable in the ninth inning, giving up three insurance runs that padded San Diego’s 6-2 victory Friday, and letting the Padres back in the game with two runs in Saturday’s 5-3 outcome.

The Giants are playing the series — and at least the next month — without closer Hunter Strickland, who broke a finger on his pitching hand earlier in the week.

Rodriguez will try to give the Giants’ bullpen a break in the series finale. But like Lauer, he has failed to give his club depth in his starts this season, averaging 4 2/3 innings in his five outings.

He has posted a win and a no-decision in his last two starts despite allowing five runs and 14 hits in 11 2/3 innings. Rodriguez has never faced the Padres.

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