Denver Broncos WR Courtland Sutton is Russell Wilson's solution in pressure situations

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When quarterback Russell Wilson is in trouble, he tends to turn to one receiver.

When Wilson is flustered, hurried and chases off his spot, he looks to Courtland.

"Sutton and I have had some good battles already, getting each other better." When we've been fighting, Wilson has thrown a lot toutton.

The Broncos traveled to California with several teammates shortly after Wilson's acquisition. The extra practice, meetings, and walk-throughs that Wilson has organized have helped speed up chemistry.

We need to go out there for a few days with him. Everybody was on the same page when we had the small meetings. We were able to work on both red zone andtempo work. We were able to work on those things without being led by a coach. We communicated with each other and said "This is what I see." Russ was asked how he liked this route run versus the defense. How should we run this route if we are pressed? How should we run this route if they're not there? It's important to be able to build those relationships during those times.

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Following the season-ending injury to receiver Tim Patrick, Wilson's willingness to fight for the ball in difficult situations has caught his eye. When the Broncos faced a third-and-14 situation during a recent practice, Wilson found the left sideline for a 35-yard touchdown. During a red zone drill, Wilson was forced out of the pocket and quickly found Sutton, who made things easier on Wilson.

The play in which Wilson and Sutton turned a high-stress moment into an improvised play worked because of the chemistry between the two players. One play later, it was a touchdown.

"That was great," he said. There was a miscommunication that led to a different play that we didn't know was going to happen. A brand-new play can happen at times. He ran a great route. Russ did a good job flattening it. Wilson sneaked to the left and got the best protection.

There have been moments like this many times.

Wilson said that court has that leadership. The work he did in San Diego can be seen in our practices. It was easy to see what Court could do when I looked at all of the games from last year.

The injury replacement for the Pro Bowl has struggled to return to his former form. In the second week of the 2020 season, he tore his knee, and the Broncos' offensive struggles last season dragged him down as well. He had two or fewer catches in eight of the team's final 10 games. In the back-to-back weeks of October, he had 120 and 94 yards receiving, but didn't have more than 68 in any games for the rest of the season.

Garett Bolles said thatRuss is going to change that for everyone. I told you to just watch the ball fly and you'll be happy. It is enjoyable. The ball is going to be given to the right person.

"It's us having the player-led meetings, we have those extra meetings of just sitting down and watching practice, Russ and the skill guys and Russ and the offense outside of the meetings that we already have to have." We need to understand why we're doing what we're doing. I want to be a reliable teammate for Russ.