In his preseason debut, Mark Ingram II scored a touchdown on the first offensive series against the Dallas Cowboys. After a takeaway by Houston's defense on the opening drive, the offense converted a short field into early points.
On the third play of the game, Jacob Martin's strip sack on Garrett Gilbert was recovered by Charles Omenihu. Tyrod Taylor threw five-yard pass to Brandin Cooks while Ingram had two rushes up the middle on the drive, including a two-yard gain on fourth-and-1.
"Obviously you have to be able to win the line of scrimmage, have the mentality that you're not going to be denied a yard," Ingram said. "It's a lot of will, be able to break a tackle and get some yards and it's a lot of will for the line to be able to knock the d-line off the ball. Everyone has to be able to execute, everyone has to be able to have that mentality, be physical and not be denied a yard."
After an eight-yard carry to get Houston to the Dallas four-yard line, Phillip Lindsay added two more yards. On the next play, Ingram scored on a two-yard touchdown run to give Houston an early 7-0 lead with 11:06 left in the first quarter. Ingram's score capped off a seven-play, 23-yard opening drive for the Texans.
"That's why we brought Mark here," head coach David Culley said. "He's a guy that during his career has not had many minus yard plays and when you give it to him he's going to give you positive yards and he did that for us today."
Ingram, inactive for the Texans first preseason game at Green Bay, finished against the Cowboys with seven carries for 24 yards and a touchdown in the Texans' 20-14 victory.
