LaMichael James was inactive on Sunday for the San Francisco 49ers against the Indianapolis Colts despite being healthy.

James was a second round pick in 2012 by the 49ers and Jim Harbaugh said Monday that he will have a role moving forward.

The 49ers used Kendall Hunter and Anthony Dixon as Frank Gore's backups at running back.

“His development's been fine,” Harbaugh said of James. “He’ll be back playing ... LaMichael’s a very good player and he is a very valuable member of our team. We’ve had a situation where we’ve dressed three running backs on certain games and in certain games we’ve dressed four. But, you know, I definitely, we definitely all value and look at LaMichael as a backup running back, like a two. And, there’s going to come time where he is a, like last year, where he’s fully in the mix and depended on and that time will come again. But, he’s doing a good job. I know he wants to play, he wants to be contributing, and when he is dressed he is contributing and doing that.”