Is Tavon Austin’s wrist to blame for early struggles with Rams?

Tavon Austin’s early fumbling issues have the Los Angeles Rams concerned heading into Week 6.

From his inability to hang on to the football on special teams to only recording five catches through five games, the Los Angeles Rams have every reason in the world to feel frustrated towards Tavon Austin. Not to mention, there were already concerns surrounding the first-round pick heading into 2017 since missed a good amount of the offseason while recovering from a wrist injury along with Austin sitting out all of preseason due to a hamstring injury.

Recently, head coach Sean McVay made the no brainer decision to replace Austin with Pharoh Cooper when it comes to returning punts since Los Angeles can’t afford to deal with anymore of his meaningless fumbles. The fact that it’s only five games into the 2017 season, and Austin has already fumbled the football four times, three of which were recovered by opponents, on punts shows why the move by McVay was necessary.

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With that being said, a recent comment by Austin courtesy of ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez makes it seem like the Rams wideout may still be dealing with some issues related to his wrist. Here’s what Austin had to say thanks to Gonzalez:

"Tavon Austin, on no longer being the Rams’ punt returner: “I know my situation. I really believe I’m the best punt returner in the league. Just got to get rid of a couple problems I’m dealing with right now.” On whether his left wrist, surgically repaired in the spring, is to blame: “It’s definitely hard. I was just able to hold the ball last week. It is what it is. It still ain’t going to stop me on offense.”"

After reading this, why shouldn’t Los Angeles fans assume Austin’s wrist is one of the main reasons behind all of the struggles this season? Then again, Austin was already known to put up disappointing numbers without the injury, so nobody truly knows what to think at this point.

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At least when compared to last season, the Rams don’t have to worry about relying heavily on Austin as much with the offense when seeing all of the talent ahead of him on the depth chart. But as far as this possibly wrist situation is concerned, here’s to hoping it gets better for Austin sooner rather than later so the fumbles stop being a major issue.