A team giving a break to a young quarterback is often the first step to a divorce. For the Colts, the decision to bench second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson feels like a move aimed at giving the Colts a chance to make the playoffs.

Indy is 4-4. The rest of the season could fall apart one way or another. Senior Joe Flacco, who was 1-1 as a starter and won the Steelers game after coming off the bench after Richardson was injured, is now helping them win.

The price for this, of course, is Richardson’s delayed development. He came into the league desperately needing reps and missed 13 games as a rookie due to injury. He still needs those reps more than ever.

But the Colts need to win. The likes of coach Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard may not be able to capitalize if they miss the playoffs due to losses as play slows down for Richardson.

Do not forget about the role of the locker room in such situations. Experienced players are not interested in trying their best as part of a meritorious apprenticeship; especially when the apprentice is willing to quit the game because he is tired during the game.

Everyone is tired, especially those blocking for the quarterback.

So between wanting to win and not being in favor of Richardson withdrawing from Sunday’s game, it becomes easier for his teammates to get behind Flacco.

Will it hurt Richardson’s development? Yes. However, with both Steichen and Ballard still on the team, he will still have a chance to develop in Indy. If they leave, the new regime could ensure that Richardson never gets a chance to learn how to play NFL football as a member of the Colts.

Still hoping he figures this out. As Peter King said PFT LiveBill Walsh said that if he sees a guy do something once, he can coach him to do it all the time. Richardson, for one, can do great things.

The only problem is that most of the time, it literally happens once per game. To add to this, Richardson is asked to sit down as he exits the game.

Now it’s up to him to make sure this happens just once.