By now you’ve probably heard that the Los Angeles Rams are paying Tavon Austin $10.5 million per year to be a gadget player. You probably also noticed that he was barely on the field Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

Austin played a total of two snaps this week, by far his lowest total of the season. He had carved out a nice role as a change-of-pace back for the Rams, but he was hardly needed against the Vikings.

Todd Gurley only received 15 carries himself in a game where the score was tied after three quarters, but the offense simply wasn’t in a rhythm at all. That, Sean McVay says, is the reason Austin hardly saw the field.

“It really was just tough to get in any sort of rhythm. Because I think they did a good job getting us off the grass, we didn’t really get enough plays off and you’d like to be able to get some of those substitutions and things like that,” McVay said after the loss. “With our inability to sustain drives, it was tough to get him going.”

Austin only has two yards on five touches in the last two games, playing a total of 13 snaps. After he was on the field for 29 plays against the Giants, it’s a bit surprising to see how far the Rams have gone away from him in recent weeks, especially after McVay said his role would grow.

The coach blamed himself for not getting Austin more involved, saying he has to be better about that in the future.

“He’s a player that we have to do a good job of – I’ve got to get him involved in the game, and it starts with being able to get more opportunities, which we didn’t get and is a credit to their defense,” he continued.