In the 2019 season, running back Mark Ingram earned Pro Bowl recognition for the third time as he ran for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns on 202 carries and caught 26 passes for 247 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games.

In the three seasons since, the former Alabama All-American has run for 1,086 yards and five touchdowns on 294 carries and caught 49 passes for 280 yards with no touchdowns in 35 games.

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In 2022, Ingram had a season-low 62 rushing attempts and missed seven of the New Orleans Saints’ final nine games because of a knee injury.

After 12 NFL seasons and at 33 years old, is it time for Ingram to retire? Twenty-eight running backs have played in at least 13 NFL seasons. Only eight have had at least 100 rushing attempts in their 13th seasons.

During an appearance on ESPN’s “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday, Ingram said he had “more juice in the tank.”

The reasons that might be true have been Glen Coffee, Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, Khiry Robinson, Tim Hightower, Alvin Kamara and Gus Edwards. Those are the running backs who siphoned carries – and accompanying hits from defenders – from Ingram at Alabama and in the NFL through his third season as a Pro Bowler.

Of the 54 players with 8,000 NFL rushing yards, Ingram, Joe Perry and Larry Csonka are the only ones who never had more than 230 carries in any season.

Ingram didn’t always like it, but he has seen a payoff later in his career.

“Splitting time, splitting backfields has been a blessing,” Ingram said. “But it’s also been frustrating at times because I felt like on several occasions or had I had the opportunity to be a feature guy, a bell cow, knowing I wake up Sunday knowing I’m going to get 20 touches, I think that’s a little different. But I don’t have any regrets. Every time, I just try to take advantage of my opportunities, try to take advantage of my role within the offense and maximize my touches any time I had the opportunity to touch the ball.

“I think sharing backfields, I think not getting overloaded with 300 carries a season for like five or six seasons in a row, I think that has helped me make it to Year 13 and still have a good body where I feel strong, I feel explosive, I feel like I can contribute and produce at a high level. But also just mentally as well – physical, emotionally, all that. That’s why I think I still have that drive and that hunger and desire and I think that has something to do with me sharing the ball, splitting time, even in college.”

In his first season at Alabama, Ingram ran for 728 yards and 12 touchdowns on 143 carries. Coffee led the Crimson Tide with 1,383 yards and 10 touchdowns on 233 carries.

In 2009, Ingram won the Heisman Trophy for Alabama’s undefeated BCS national championship team as he ran for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns on 271 carries. Freshman Trent Richardson still got 145 rushing attempts that season for the Tide, producing 751 yards and eight touchdowns.

In 2010, Ingram ran for 875 yards and 13 touchdowns on 158 carries and Richardson had 700 yards and six touchdowns on 112 carries.

Of his backfield running mates, Ingram said Richardson pushed him the most.

“That dude set a little fire under me,” Ingram said. “You see that boy come in there toting that rock, breaking tackles, sprinting down the sideline. He looks the part. He all rocked up. And I think, especially as a young guy, I had a good freshman year, and coming into my sophomore year, I’m supposed to be the guy. Then you have this young cat running his tail off. That definitely inspired me to kept going, pushing. I’m like, ‘He can’t come get this. It’s mine.’ That was actually the first year I started. That was the year I won the Heisman.”

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During his NFL career, Ingram has run for 8,111 yards and 65 touchdowns on 1,817 carries and caught 303 passes for 2,125 yards and 10 touchdowns. To add to those totals, he needs a team for the 2023 season. Ingram because an unrestricted free agent on March 15, and he remains unsigned with most teams set to open their offseason programs next week.

“Sometimes in this business, you don’t get what you deserve, right?” Ingram said. “There’ve been times when I’ve been up to the table, and did I get what I think I deserved? No. There might have been other backs getting more money that did less. You have to get your max value. You might not get what you deserve, but you need to get your max value, and that’s something I took away from this business. You might not always get what you deserve, but you always better get your max market value.”

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