NEW ORLEANS -- It’s hard to say whether Mark Ingram’s fourth-quarter meltdown Sunday -- in which he lost two fumbles -- will alter the balance of the New Orleans Saints’ backfield.

Sean Payton is smart enough to know that he’ll need Ingram to play a key role for the rest of this season. And Ingram has a seven-year body of work that proves he can bounce back from adversity. This is the first time in his career that Ingram has ever lost two fumbles in a game. And this is the first time he has ever lost three fumbles in a season.

Payton loves and trusts Ingram, as evidenced by the Saints’ decision to ship Adrian Peterson out of town earlier this month.

However, there is one thing that could block Ingram’s path to redemption. Or, rather, one rookie running back Payton also has developed a love and trust in: Alvin Kamara.

I wish someone in my life would love me as much as Sean Payton loves Alvin Kamara #Saints

— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) October 29, 2017

Kamara closed out New Orleans’ 20-12 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday after Ingram fumbled on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter. So it’s possible that if Payton decides to start Kamara next Sunday against Tampa Bay and stick with the hot hand, Kamara could turn into “1a” and Ingram could turn into “1b” if Kamara takes the opportunity and runs with it.

Ingram was extremely hard on himself after his two fumbles, saying some version of “I sucked” 18 times as he lamented that he let his team down.

And Payton didn’t let him off the hook, saying, “You turn the ball over like we did, and you don't deserve to win games like that. You can't do it." When asked what his message to Ingram was, Payton said, “The message to Mark will be between me and Mark.”

But here’s the thing both Ingram and Kamara have going for them over the next nine weeks (and quite possibly into the playoffs): The Saints obviously have realized how important the run game and the running backs are to their success this season.

Ingram and Kamara had 16 of the Saints’ first 21 touches Sunday, as they clearly were intent on keeping the ball away from Chicago’s opportunistic defense.

A week earlier in a similar situation in cold, wet weather at Green Bay, Ingram and Kamara each surpassed 100 yards from scrimmage.

And the week before that, against Detroit, the Saints had more rushing yards (193) than passing yards (186) for the first time since 2009.

So the guess here is Ingram remains a huge part of New Orleans’ offense this year -- even if he takes a temporary backseat to Kamara in touches for a few weeks.

Last season is the perfect example of what might happen.

Ingram fumbled twice all year in 2016. But those two fumbles happened to come in the fourth quarter of a close loss at Kansas City in Week 7 and the first quarter of a Week 8 game against Seattle in which Payton had emphasized ball security as the key to victory.

So Ingram sat on the bench for the rest of that Seahawks game while backup Tim Hightower ran the ball 26 times for 102 yards in a 25-20 Saints victory.

That led to a bigger role for Hightower. And it took more than a month before Ingram clearly reestablished himself as the leading man.

But Ingram eventually did so -- and he wound up with the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his career.