With his offseason work scuttled by a wrist injury and his training camp and preseason scrapped due to a hamstring problem, Rams receiver Tavon Austin is moving closer to finally making his return to action.
“We’re not going to play him against Green Bay,” coach Sean McVay told reporters on Sunday regarding Austin. “If it was a normal game week, I think he would be able to play. He’s made huge progress . . . over the last week where he’s running, reaching some higher speeds on the treadmill and stuff where it’s 100 percent of the weight that he’s supporting. So those have been some good things and you’ll start to figure out – we’re going to have to start brainstorming some ways with how we’re going to utilize Tavon in that [Week One] game, which will be fun.”
So how may Austin be used?
“I’m not going to tell you that, we’ll have to watch the game,” McVay said with a laugh. “But the anticipation is he’s going to be a part of that game plan. How exactly we utilize him are fun things for us to be able to figure out, but he’s going to be a part of that for sure.”
With new receivers on board like Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp, Austin may finally see a little less attention. Which could result in a lot more production. If he can ever get onto the field.
It looks like that’s coming in two weeks, when the Rams host the Colts.