Miles Austin ruled out
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin (19) works against Oakland Raiders cornerback Mike Jenkins (21) during the first quarter in an preseason game at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Cowboys have ruled out No. 2 wide receiver Miles Austin for Sunday’s game against the San Diego Chargers, and it’s a move that was fully expected after Austin missed his third straight practice this week after being absent today. Austin has a long history of hamstring issues, and he injured his hamstring last week against the St. Louis Rams. Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett downplayed the injury by stating that the Cowboys only took Austin out of the game as a precaution and that he could have continued to play if the Cowboys needed him to, and Garrett might not have been bluffing. Whenever it’s a hamstring injury with Austin, you always have to be careful, and the Cowboys might just be holding him out of this game in order to avoid him aggravating the injury later; I mean, it is only Week 4 of the season.
Then again, Austin’s hamstring injury could be worse than we think, and that certainly can’t be ruled out given his past issues. The Dallas Cowboys will start deep threat Terrance Williams for Miles Austin this week, and Williams could break a big play or two against the San Diego Chargers secondary. Williams is an incredibly raw player, though, who is drop-prone and doesn’t run good routes. That said, he’s looked good this season after bouncing back nicely from a rough debut, and he has a nice matchup against the Chargers. Miles Austin is clearly more reliable than Williams and is easily the better player overall, but this is good experience for Williams.
Through three games this season, Miles Austin has caught 15 passes for 125 yards, and he’s handled a lot of underneath stuff thus far. If the injury is bad enough, then Austin could miss next week’s extremely difficult matchup against the Denver Broncos; a team well-known for their elite talent at cornerback.
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