METAIRIE, La. -- Mark Ingram is no longer in timeout.

The New Orleans Saints running back finally made his way off the bench three series into Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, one week after he was demoted for fumbling for the second game in a row.

He quickly made up for lost time.

Ingram ran for 158 yards on just 15 carries -- including a career-long 75-yard touchdown. He also caught two passes for 13 yards, including another touchdown. He earned a game ball for his efforts. Saints coach Sean Payton and teammates expressed how happy they were to see Ingram bounce back in such a big way.

As I wrote last week, Ingram wasn’t going to stay down for long after he had earned so much trust and respect over the past three years.

But here’s the problem for Ingram’s fantasy owners: Payton and the Saints' players also have a lot of love for backup running back Tim Hightower, who also had a big day as the starter at San Francisco (23 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown, one catch for 15 yards).

Hightower had an even bigger day with 102 yards on 26 carries against the Seattle Seahawks a week earlier. And he was terrific down the stretch last season after Ingram suffered a shoulder injury. The Saints are now 5-1 with Hightower as the leading back.

So this should continue to be a time share for a while -- and the Saints will be facing much tougher defenses than the woeful 49ers run defense.

Ingram's bounce-back performance against the 49ers was highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown run. Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports

“You’ve covered us long enough to know that we’ll do what’s best each week to win that game,” Payton said when asked about whether he would prefer one leading man to a time share in the backfield. “And, man, it was good to see Mark run. The week before, Tim gave us a jolt. And we’ll continue to look at each game and plan accordingly.”

The good news is that Sunday’s opponent, the Denver Broncos, have been surprisingly poor against the run this season -- 29th in the NFL, allowing 128.6 yards per game.

So the Saints will probably try to stay committed to the run on Sunday as they have for the past two games -- especially since Denver has the NFL’s No. 1 passing defense.

Ingram and Hightower are both reluctantly willing to share the load because of their respect for one another and their desire to keep winning. But naturally, both veterans admitted their competitive nature makes them want to be the leading guy.

“I hope (there is room for two), man. I know we both love it,” Hightower said. “(Sunday) was one of those games where you just feed off each other. I’m feeding off his energy. Seeing him break a run like that, man, for me, I get amped up. I get a big run, he’s amped up. It’s one of those games that running backs, the O-line, we feed off those games, so I hope we keep it up.

“Here’s the thing: We’re competitive. And when you’re competitive, you want to be out there every single snap. I would expect Mark to want to be out there, I would expect (Travaris) Cadet to want to be out there. I would expect every single back to want to be on that field every single play and every single situation. But we also understand that, hey, there’s some things that he does well, there’s some things that I do well, there’s some things that all of us do well, and we can complement each other.

“And at the end of the day, shoot, you keep winning, I don’t think any of us will be upset.”

Ingram stayed positive throughout the benching and spoke Sunday about how much he appreciated the support he got from family, friends and teammates after his tough two-week stretch.

“Hey, man, whatever it takes to win games. As long as we’re winning, I’m happy,” Ingram said of the time share. “And Tim’s running well. And we had a great 1-2 punch going (Sunday). So I want to just keep working my butt off, keep trying to improve. And like I said, coaches coach, players play, and that’s all on the coaches.”