The Rams didn’t draft a wide receiver last month and their only veteran free agent move was to give Kenny Britt a chance to rebound from a lost season in Tennessee.
Despite underwhelming results from last year’s corps and the lack of new additions, coach Jeff Fisher says he doesn’t consider it a gamble to go with his current group of receivers. One reason for that may be Tavon Austin’s feeling that the game is starting to slow down for him after a rocky transition to the professional ranks last year.
“It’s all about getting comfortable,” Austin said, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It was a pretty big adjustment for me at first. The playbook was different. The speed of the game was different. I eventually caught on and the game settled down.”
The Rams want to attack teams on the ground this season, but that won’t be possible if defenses don’t feel any threat from their passing game. Austin, Chris Givens, Austin Pettis, Brian Quick and, once he’s back from suspension, Stedman Bailey have all been drafted in recent years to provide that threat but the results have not been up to par.
Austin had 40 catches for 418 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie, with two of the scores coming in a victory over the Colts that also saw him score on a punt return touchdown to further show off the explosiveness that made him a first-round pick. More of that would be a good start for the Rams offense as they try to move their passing game forward in 2014.