THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Sammy Watkins has a saying.

A belief, actually.

"Ninety-percent of the time, I feel like I'm open," he said. "The other 10 percent, some s--- go bad with the quarterback; a sack or something like that. But 90 percent of the time, I feel like I'm open."

If that's the case, now is the time for the Los Angeles Rams to find him.

Robert Woods will miss at least the next two games, a product of the sprained left shoulder he sustained late in Sunday's 24-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Now the Rams must rally to fill the void of their most productive receiver. Cooper Kupp can expect an uptick in targets; Michael Thomas, Pharoh Cooper and Josh Reynolds will all be in line to see more snaps.

But the two guys to watch are the Rams' two most decorated receivers -- Watkins and Tavon Austin.

Austin, costing nearly $15 million towards this year's salary cap, has been used mainly as a backfield decoy throughout the season and received only two offensive snaps at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 11. He called that "very tough."

"Just on the aspect of the competitor I am, not of nothing else," said Austin, who ranks 13th on the Rams in offensive snaps. "We had a plan, we definitely had a plan, and it just didn't sync up at the time. I'm a team player. So it doesn't really make a difference to me. I just know that whenever my name gets called, I'm happy, and I'm ready to get in there."

Austin compiled 2,610 scrimmage yards and 20 touchdowns from 2013 to 2016, but has only 214 scrimmage yards and one touchdown through 10 games this season. An inordinate amount of early season muffed punts prompted him to lose his job as a returner. And prior to Woods' injury, it seemed as if Austin was being phased out of the offense entirely.

But Rams coach Sean McVay has stressed that he values the threat Austin provides out of the backfield, particularly with his jet sweeps.

Now he might also use him as a traditional receiver.

"Even with Rob still here, I still want to be a receiver," Austin said. "... But there's only one ball. At the end of the day, there's only one ball."

Watkins has played in 47 NFL games, and only four have come without Woods lining up beside him. The two spent the last three years on the Buffalo Bills, and now they're together again in L.A.

"It's going to be a little bit different playing without him," Watkins said. "But he's going to be healthy in another two or three weeks."

In the meantime, Watkins is the most likely candidate to step up in Woods' absence. Watkins was seemingly brought in to be the Rams' No. 1 receiver, but through 11 weeks, 104 players have been targeted more frequently, 102 have hauled in more catches and 60 have compiled more receiving yards. Watkins -- with 24 catches for 408 yards and four touchdowns -- has hauled in 63.2 percent of his targets, which puts him within the bottom 40 percent of qualified NFL receivers.

"Honestly, I'm going to do what I've been doing -- playing hard, blocking the way I block, getting open," Watkins said. "Maybe I do get more opportunities this week; you never know. But we do have other guys stepping up."

"I don't think he needs to do anything different than what he's been doing," Rams quarterback Jared Goff said of Watkins. "He's been doing a great job, practicing hard, and really been good in games. We need to find some ways to get him the ball a little bit more, and that's something we'll definitely be conscious of."

But the Rams will also spread it around, just as they did before. Woods leads the team in targets (70), catches (47) and receiving yards (703). But six Rams receivers have more than 15 targets, six have more than 200 receiving yards and six have caught touchdowns. Rams coach Sean McVay reiterated on Wednesday that replacing Woods will be "a group effort," not a burden Watkins will carry alone.

"Sammy is a special player; you always want to try to get guys like him involved," McVay said. "But we also try to make sure that it's my responsibility, and we never want Jared to feel like he's got to force the ball. Let the coverage and let whatever the defense presents dictate your decision-making process in terms of whatever concept it is that we're running. I think he's done a good job with that."

The Saints are allowing the ninth-fewest passing yards per game, but their two starting corners, Marshon Lattimore and Ken Crawley, each missed practice on Wednesday.

Goff, coming off a game during which he threw the ball 22 more times than the Rams ran it, brought up the need to get Todd Gurley more involved on the ground. But the Rams also have to make up for Woods in the passing game -- in the stretch run of their season, during the toughest portion of their schedule.

They believe they can.

"I feel like every receiver that we have on our team can go somewhere and start on another team," Austin said. "We definitely mad that [Woods is] out; hopefully he gets back as fast as he can. But for the most part, I have confidence in all the receivers here that they can step up and take his place."