36-year-old Edgerrin James attended practice on Saturday and plans to have a major impact on the running backs for the squad. James, the Colts career rushing leader, can bring knowledge, experience, and a different atmosphere to the team.
Richardson was traded from the Browns to the Colts in the early parts of the 2013-2014 season. After being traded, Richardson sincerely struggled as the starting running back and would eventually lose his starting spot to Donald Brown.
"Last year, when [Richardson] got here during the middle of the season, it wasn't fair to him with a lot of stuff that was going on," James said. "So I told [owner] Mr. [Jim] Irsay I would come up here during training camp and kind of talk to him and give him perspective on everything he is going through and help him as much as I can."
Richardson deserves a lot of flack for his lack of productivity this past season, but the Colts faced 8 different starting lineups in the offensive line. Combine that with Richardson's inability to grasp the full offense for the season and you can develop some logical reasons as to why he struggled.
"It was unfair to judge him because it is two different systems," said James. "The terminology is totally different and he was just kind of thrown out there. You can't really get an assessment because there is so much going on for him personally and the things you have to go through in order to be good in this league. This is the NFL; you can't just sign somebody thinking they can come in and be a star no matter how good they have been."
Richardson only averaged 2.9 yards per carry as a Colt. Throughout the offseason he has been given time to learn the offense and what he needs to do to be productive in that offense. James should be a positive help but ultimately it's up to Richardson if he wants to be successful in Indianapolis this upcoming season.