Hackett addresses “extra attention” defenses have for Courtland Sutton

At times, it feels like Courtland Sutton is the last Broncos receiver standing.

After Tim Patrick went down with a torn ACL in training camp, and Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler battled injuries all year, Sutton’s been the lone target healthy enough for QB Russell Wilson to rely on the entire season. Sutton’s played in all 11 games for Denver and leads the team in yards (688) and receptions (52). He does only have one touchdown.

With Sutton missing a lot of his wide receiver friends, defenses can lock in on the former second-round pick out of SMU. Head coach Nathaniel Hackett knows that’s a problem, and could explain some of his inconsistencies this season. Sutton’s had three games where he’s gained fewer than 24 yards through the air.

“He definitely gets a lot of attention,” Hackett said on Thursday. “He’s a guy that everybody we’re going to face knows we’re going to try to get him involved as much as we can throughout the entire game. That should give some other guys some opportunities that they need to win. But we have to try to be as creative as we possibly can to try to get him the ball.”

That’s an interesting answer from the head coach. Basically he’s saying if defenses are going to pay so much attention to Sutton, other players need to step up. That includes the likes of Kendall Hinton, Jalen Virgil, Montrell Washington and Brandon Johnson.

It’s crazy the season’s gotten to that point, but here we are. Receiving depth was thought to be a strength for Denver, but now it’s a weakness. Hackett says Sutton is rolling with the punches, despite the occasional struggles.

“Courtland is another guy, our locker room is a great locker room, and he’s a captain of our football team. And he understands the game, the situation that he’s in. He knows that he’s going to gain that attention. He knows we’re going to try to do everything we can to try to move him and get him in positions to try to be able to get open. It just shows his character,” Hackett said.

Sutton’s been better Denver’s last three games. He caught at least five footballs in all of them, and gained at least 66 yards. But he still hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 4 in Las Vegas, his lone TD this year.

The Broncos will need him on Sunday in Baltimore, facing a high-powered Ravens offense. They’ll need a lot of other guys to have big games as well, but it might start with Wilson and Sutton.

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