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Tavon Austin is expected to spend the St. Louis Rams' last home game of the season watching from the sidelines. The rookie wide receiver's ankle injury will keep him out of action for a second week, according to reports.
Doesn’t sound like #Rams WR Tavon Austin (ankle) will play this week vs. #Bucs. Injured his ankle and missed last week, too.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 22, 2013
Austin injured his ankle two weeks ago in Arizona. He missed last week's upset win over the New Orleans Saints.
The rookie's impact in the passing game has been minimal since a breakout game against the Colts in Week 10. He's caught seven passes on 14 targets, mostly dink and dunkers for a grand total of 73 yards. His work as the team's kick and punt returner has been more important to the Rams. Justin Veltung took over punt return duties last week. Isaiah Pead handled kick returns.
St. Louis has been eliminated from the playoffs, so there's no need to rush Austin back onto the field at this point in the year.