Tavon Austin most likely to miss Saturday’s game for Rams against Chargers

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin has yet to play in the preseason while recovering from a hamstring injury.

Believe it or not, the offense of the Los Angeles Rams seems to be earning respect around the league following their impressive performance against the Oakland Raiders during their second preseason game. What’s even more amazing is the Rams’ offense led by Jared Goff was able to be this successful despite Tavon Austin watching from the sidelines, and with an upcoming game against the Los Angeles Chargers, it looks like the speedy wideout could be absent once again from the lineup.

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The former first-round pick has yet to suit up for Los Angeles during preseason while recovering from a hamstring injury, which is even more frustrating since Austin missed valuable time during the offseason while recovering from wrist surgery. Then again, around this time last week, there was speculation that Sean McVay would possibly end up resting Austin throughout the preseason as a safety precaution, so missing Saturday’s game against the Chargers wouldn’t be that much of a surprise.

A few months ago, Austin was considered the No. 1 wideout for the Rams on offense, but a lot has changed since the end of the 2016 NFL season. It was one thing to sign Robert Woods in free agency along with using a third-round pick on Cooper Kupp in the NFL Draft, but after the recent acquisition of Sammy Watkins, early signs point to Austin landing at the No. 4 spot.

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Obviously, Austin is the kind of player who can be used in multiple ways on offense, and McVay will likely do so when considering the ridiculous amount of money the wideout is making, but the whole situation has to be frustrating for Los Angeles. After missing all of this valuable time away from the football field when he needs to be getting comfortable with McVay’s new offense, nobody really knows what to expect from Austin production wise whenever he is healthy enough to return to action since he’s never been reliable in the first place.