Tavon Austin entered Sunday having two lost fumbles under his belt as a punt returner. After the loss, his total is now up to four fumbles on the year, three of which he lost.

As a core special teams player, that’s unacceptable. He was able to recover his first fumble of the day but not his second. The Seahawks fell on it and gave themselves good field position, though Russell Wilson threw an interception four plays later.

Coach Sean McVay was predictably asked about Austin as the team’s punt returner afterwards, but he was noncommittal on the subject.

“We’ll go back after this game and evaluate some of those things moving forward,” McVay said.

McVay said S Mo Alexander was not benched for disciplinary reasons. Noncommittal on whether Tavon Austin will continue to return punts. — Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 8, 2017

When he was initially asked about Austin’s fumbles, McVay said, “He’s our punt returner, he’s gonna be better than that.” However, when asked about his status shortly thereafter, he wouldn’t say Austin will stay back there.

After his first muffed punt, Cooper Kupp came in to field the next punt, doing so cleanly. He’ll likely be the next guy up in the event Austin is removed, but there’s no question who the more explosive player is. The Rams just can’t afford to keep giving it away on special teams.

“Some of those punts had good trajectory and a lot of movement, and some of those are tough to field,” McVay said of Seattle’s punts.

Austin has had endless opportunities to contribute for the Rams, but he’s allowed some of them to slip through his grasp, particularly on special teams.