Bonsignore: Rams WR Tavon Austin rewarded and ready to roll

Bonsignore: Rams WR Tavon Austin rewarded and ready to roll

By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News

[www.dailynews.com]

MINNEAPOLIS — Barring some unforeseen turn of events, you won’t see Tavon Austin on the field when the Rams wrap up their preseason against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Vikings are the perfect example why key players like Austin are draped in bubble wrap at this point of the preseason. The Vikings were being talked about in Super Bowl terms barely 48 hours ago, but those discussions, if not their whole season, went up in smoke when quarterback Teddy Bridgewater went crumbling to the ground Tuesday with a devastating knee injury that will knock him out for all of 2016 and could threaten 2017 as well.

And that was during practice in a non-contact drill.

With the stakes so high, the physicality of football so explosive and the line between hope and hopelessness so thin in the NFL, no sense risking a key cog like Austin.

Especially after the Rams just gave Austin a four-year contract extension that guarantees him $30 million, could top out at $42 million, and keeps him in Los Angeles through the 2021 season.

The new contract, and the security it represents, was appreciated by the low-key Austin, who admits the business side of things weighed heavily. Now in his fourth season — and with no guarantees the Rams would take the relationship to the next level — he peered around the league and saw teams surprisingly parting ways with key players.

He couldn’t help wonder about his future with the Rams.

“At the end of the day, this is a sport, yes, but it’s also a job, and sometimes you worry about your family and other things going on off the field,” Austin said. “You look around and see players who left teams and it makes you wonder.”

Austin appreciates the financial commitment, and the peace of mind it provides.

“I feel clear minded. I don’t have to worry about nothing else,” he said. “No doubt you have to deal with the business side, but for me it’s all about football now. Having fun. I’m just ready to play football.”

You protect assets in which you invested that much faith and money, so Austin will take his place on the sidelines with the rest of the players the Rams will rely on this season.

For Austin, it continues a bit of a trend.

The Rams have played three preseason games, yet their new $42 million man has been nearly invisible.

“We’ve won two games and I haven’t even touched the ball yet,” Austin said.

He doesn’t say that with rancor. Actually it’s a tip of the cap to some young playmakers who figure to complement Austin and star running back Todd Gurley.

If newcomers like wide receiver Pharoh Cooper and tight end Tyler Higbee can carry their strong training camp and preseason work to the regular season, the Rams’ offense has a legitimate chance to emerge from the bottom rung of NFL production.

“We have a lot of playmakers on this team,” Austin said.

That’s a noted departure from previous seasons, and while his lack of preseason targets suggests the added talent could push Austin to the background, the Rams are expecting the opposite.

More talent means more defensive focus shifting away from Austin. Theoretically, that means more room for Austin to operate. And while he’ll never be a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver threat in the mold of Dez Bryant or Odell Beckham Jr., Austin is capable of flourishing in space.

“He’s very, very talented with the ball in his hands,” Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said. “He is a problem to defend against and we hear that week after week after week. I was speaking with (Broncos defensive coordinator) Wade (Phillips) before the game and (he was saying), ‘This guy is really good.’ It was obvious, the way they defended us, they knew we weren’t going to give him the ball, so they just kind of disregarded where he was, but things change here in a couple weeks.

“I’m just really happy for Tavon. He’s a great team guy, full of energy and he’s got a God-given talent that’s going to carry us a long way.”

The Rams, in anticipation of that, rewarded Austin with the extension. And while critics will argue the pay raise doesn’t represent his body of work — in three seasons Austin has 123 receptions for 1,133 yards and nine touchdowns and 809 yards and seven rushing touchdowns — Rams officials argue they’ve already paid Austin for goods delivered.

The new contract is a reflection of what they believe he’s on the verge of doing.

“It’s our anticipation of what he’s going to do. We’ve seen what he’s capable of and we’re hoping we’re going to get a lot more than what we’ve seen in the past,” Fisher said. “I know people are putting out numbers and things like that, but they forget three or four punt returns that were returned for touchdowns that were called back.”

And after watching the Rams throughout training camp, it’s pretty obvious new offensive coordinator Rob Boras is determined to get Austin the ball in multiple, creative ways. It’s been a constant theme in camp, but for obvious reasons the Rams have kept a lid on it in preseason games.

Whether that translates to the actual season remains to be seen. That will depend on Case Keenum, the effectiveness of the offensive line and receivers Cooper and Kenny Britt and tight ends Higbee and Lance Kendricks emerging and being dependable just as much as it is Austin.

But that is the plan.

Hence the contract extension.

Austin appreciates the confidence and compensation. And he’s ecstatic it will unfold in Los Angeles.

“The Rams gave me my first chance, brought me to the NFL, and I’d love to finish my career here,” he said. “For them to put that extension on my contract lets me know it’s not just about football. It’s a family thing over here.”