AP

Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins said recently that he hopes rookie wide receiver Tavon Austin surrounds himself with good people so that he can focus on becoming the “very special” player that Jenkins believes Austin can become.

Austin talked about feeling like people were “counting his bank account” after being drafted in the first round in April and told Andrew Siciliano of the NFL Network that he’s going to have his mother serve as “the bad man” when it comes to telling people looking for money that they can’t have any of it. That will free Austin to concentrate on his role as one of quarterback Sam Bradford’s “new toys” on offense.

“He looked for me a lot at practice,” Austin said. “He definitely believes in me and I definitely feel good about myself. He kind of talked to me, let me know the things I’m doing good, the things I’m doing bad as far as landmarks, if I should have kept the corner high or should I bend it off. I definitely believe he got a lot of trust in me and I got trust in him.”

It’s a whole little circle of trust going on in St. Louis as Austin’s trusting his mother to help him off the field so that he can continue earning Bradford’s on offense. If the result is the gamebreaking offensive weapon that the Rams traded up to get in April, the NFC West is going to be even more interesting next season.