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Trent Richardson, the running back the Indianapolis Colts traded a first-round draft picks to acquire in 2013, was a healthy scratch for Sunday’s divisional round victory over the Denver Broncos.

Richardson was one of the seven players the Colts declared inactive prior to their 24-13 win over the Broncos. Indianapolis instead elected to keep rookie Zurlon Tipton and free agent signee Michael Hill active instead.

The reason? Head coach Chuck Pagano says it was due to Richardson’s lack of experience on special teams.

“Michael Hill was a special teams player and Trent – it’s not any knock on Trent – but Trent’s never been asked to be a special teams player,” Pagano said, via Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. “He was doing everything for a period of time to try to get himself ready. But Michael was more ready to go out and be the third back and contribute on special teams.”

Special teams ability isn’t necessarily a prerequisite for a starter or even a backup running back. But if you’re third on the depth chart or below, special teams better be something you are willing and able to do if you want to play.

Richardson appears to have been supplanted for the backup job by Tipton and seen as a worse special teams option than Hill. If that continues to be the case – and Richardson’s 3.3 yards per carry average don’t seem to indicate otherwise – it certainly appears Richardson has virtually no role with the team going forward.