METAIRIE, La. — Here’s the bright side: If any team is equipped to handle a No. 1 running back getting hit with a four-game suspension, it’s the New Orleans Saints, who have two No. 1 running backs.

Of course, Mark Ingram’s suspension for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances is not an ideal scenario for the Saints, who loved their one-two punch of Ingram and Kamara last season. New Orleans mixed the two almost interchangeably in the run game, passing game and short-yardage game.

They became the first duo in NFL history to each surpass 1,500 yards from scrimmage in a season, with both of them scoring at least 12 touchdowns and making the Pro Bowl. They were a huge reason the Saints boasted the No. 2-ranked offense and led the league in rushing touchdowns and yards per rush.

But Kamara sure looks like a guy who can handle being both 1A and 1B while Ingram is sidelined for the first four weeks of the 2018 season. The NFL’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year showed he could do a little bit of everything last season, as he racked up 728 rushing yards, 826 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns.

Even the Saints admitted that Kamara was a better between-the-tackles runner than they expected while he averaged a whopping 6.1 yards per carry. By the end of the season, Kamara began to take on slightly more of the workload than Ingram.

We discussed those evolving roles at last week’s ESPN Fantasy Football rankings summit, where we collectively ranked Kamara sixth among running backs and Ingram 14th.

Obviously, they’ll be heading in two different directions on that list now. The bigger question is whether the disparity will become permanent.

Ingram’s suspension comes at a critical time in his career. Not only is he trying to prove he can still run step for step with the NFL’s newest superstar running back, but he is also heading into the final year of his contract.

The NFL Network reported that Ingram has not been participating in the Saints’ offseason conditioning program so far. Earlier this offseason, he switched from longtime agent Joel Segal to new agents Paul Bobbitt and David Jones. It’s unclear whether that means Ingram is angling for a lucrative contract extension before the season kicks off. If so, this suspension won’t help his case.

I certainly don’t expect Ingram to wind up in the Saints’ ‘doghouse.’ The former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round draft pick has been widely respected by teammates and coaches throughout his seven-year career in New Orleans, especially for the way he handled his smaller role in a crowded timeshare when things weren’t going great early in his career.

But even a guy as beloved as Ingram might feel like a luxury item if Kamara proves that he can be a true leading man in Ingram’s absence. One way or another, this suspension is a huge letdown at this stage of Ingram’s career after he had worked long and hard to establish himself as one of the NFL’s best running backs following early struggles.

The NFL Players Association on Monday filed two claims on behalf of former San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid, a 26-year-old unsigned free agent who believes that teams are refusing to sign him because he has protested during pregame national anthem ceremonies.

The actions taken by the NFL players’ union Monday are separate from the collusion grievance Reid and his attorney Mark Geragos filed against the NFL last week.

Monday’s filings by the NFLPA included a noninjury grievance specific to Reid’s free-agent visits and a more general “system arbitrator case” alleging that any team that asks prospective signees whether they plan to protest during the anthem is engaged in bad-faith negotiation.

“Prior to the start of the current NFL off-season, our Union directed the agents of free agent players who had participated in peaceful on-field demonstrations to collect, memorialize and report any relevant information about potential violations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement by teams,” the NFLPA said in a statement announcing the claims Monday.

The union’s statement lists five bullet points as justification for the claims:

• “There is no League rule that prohibits players from demonstrating during the national anthem.”

• “The NFL has made it clear both publicly and to the NFLPA that they would respect the rights of players to demonstrate.”

• “The Collective Bargaining Agreement definitively states that the League (NFL) rules supersede any conflicting club rules.”

• “According to our information, a club appears to have based its decision not to sign a player based on the player’s statement that he would challenge the implementation of a club’s policy prohibiting demonstration, which is contrary to the League policy.”

• “At least one club owner has asked pre-employment interview questions about a player’s intent to demonstrate. We believe these questions are improper, given League policy.”

The statement does not mention a specific team or teams in connection with the final two points, but it has been reported that Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown asked Reid during his visit with the Bengals whether he planned to continue protesting during the pregame national anthem. Reid, who joined with former 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when the latter began his protests of social injustice during the anthem and continued them last year, said earlier this offseason that he didn’t plan to continue the protests.

PITTSBURGH — Mason Rudolph has no hard feelings over Ben Roethlisberger’s comments.

Roethlisberger on Friday told radio station 93.7 The Fan that he was surprised the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Rudolph in the third round over players who can “help this team now,” and he hedged when asked about playing any sort of mentor role.

Appearing on NFL Network over the weekend, Rudolph seemed to understand Roethlisberger’s perspective.

“If I was Ben, I’d probably say the same thing,” the former Oklahoma State quarterback said on the network’s “Path To The Draft” broadcast. “He’s a competitor. Obviously, he has a lot of confidence in himself, like I do. And, yeah, he’s going to be a future Hall of Famer, and I would expect him to say that. So I’m just looking forward to going in there and learning the system, competing, raising my level of play, preparing like I’m the starter even though obviously I won’t be the starter and just waiting and being prepared for whenever I get my time. Whenever my time comes, to be ready and take advantage of it.”

• 

  Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was surprised the Steelers selected Mason Rudolph in the third round of last week’s draft. Roethlisberger had informed management early in the offseason that he planned to play at least three more years.

• They can’t all be franchise quarterbacks, but six teams hope they’ve found one. Here’s why they believe they’ve picked the right guy.

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  Baker Mayfield insists there will be no tension between himself and Tyrod Taylor in the competition for the Browns’ starting quarterback job.

Roethlisberger respected the talent of receiver Martavis Bryant, who was shipped to Oakland in a trade for the draft selection that facilitated the Rudolph move. That’s one reason Roethlisberger might be stressing the win-now theme, though the Steelers went receiver in the second round, selecting Rudolph’s playmaking teammate James Washington.

BEREA, Ohio – Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Antonio Callaway said his positive drug test at this year’s scouting combine was the result of a dilute sample and that he’s taking steps to put his troubled past behind him.

“I had a diluted sample,” Callaway, the Browns’ fourth-round pick in last week’s NFL draft, said between workouts at the team’s rookie minicamp Saturday. “I didn’t intentionally do it, but I take responsibility for my test. That was a wake-up call, but like I’ve said, day by day I’m still getting better as a person, as a player, as a man, as a father. I’ve got a daughter. She’s going to be 3 months old next week.”

Callaway was seen by many as a talented enough player to be drafted in the early rounds, but he fell to the fourth because of significant off-field concerns. He was suspended from the Florida Gators football team for all of 2017 for allegedly using stolen credit card information to fund bookstore accounts. He was cited after a traffic stop in May 2017 for misdemeanor marijuana possession and possession of drug equipment. And he was cleared of sexual assault allegations by a Title IX hearing officer in August 2016 after his accuser and her witnesses boycotted the hearing because the hearing officer was a Gators football booster.

“I was young, that’s all. Immature,” Callaway said of his list of transgressions. “I was just living in the moment. I knew I had to grow and learn from my mistakes. When I got suspended, I didn’t think it would cost me the NFL. I just knew that it would hurt. Because I know my talent. I’m pretty good at football.”

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, also from Miami, reached out to Callaway on Twitter recently and has been spending time working out with him and trying to help him prepare for life in the NFL.