ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Behind the usually cool exterior, Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II has a massive stash of wide receiver data, including what makes some the league's best able to do what they do.
So when the topic of a teammate Courtland Sutton is offered up, there is no hesitation.
"Court? Strong at the catch point, your technique is going to have be on Q, you're going to have to give him different looks, do different things,'' Surtain said. "Also you better be aggressive at the catch point, because you know him, he's going to the catch point strong and you better finish the play if you cover him because he will every time because when he goes up he knows he's going to get the ball."
But if they didn't already know it, the Broncos got a thorough look Sunday night at how good a season Sutton was having -- and how much they would miss him if a concussion he suffered causes him to miss games.
"It is tough anytime you lose a good player like that,'' Broncos coach Sean Payton said. "He is in the [concussion] protocol. I think it happened early in the game and there were a couple of adjustments that we made and then you go play ... You adjust on the fly.''
Adjust, yes, but an already balky Broncos passing game got even less traction without Sutton until a fourth-quarter flurry in the 26-23 loss to the New England Patriots. After Sutton left in the first quarter -- he had one target with no catches -- rookie Marvin Mims Jr. was the only wide receiver with a catch in the first half.
The Broncos didn't get a second catch from a wide receiver until Brandon Johnson caught a 13-yarder from Russell Wilson with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter. Broncos wide receivers had six of their nine catches combined in the game during the Broncos' two last-ditch touchdown drives of the fourth quarter.
It will be a challenge they'll all have to face without Sutton, their leader in targets (86), receptions (58), receiving yards (770) and touchdowns (10). Sutton's touchdown total is third in the league and four away from tying the Broncos' single-season mark -- 14, held by Demaryius Thomas and Anthony Miller.
"If he's not in there, we all have to step up,'' Mims said. "He does so many things, some of the catches he's made.''
That is what the Broncos missed, almost immediately when Sutton left the game Sunday, and will miss the rest of the way. Because when it's time to close the deal in the end zone with some get-the-toes-down, win-the-ball magic, Sutton is one of the league's best. For a Broncos offense that is 22nd in the league in the red zone and 31st in goal to go situations (53.7% touchdown rate, or just over 40% worse than the league), Sutton has been their only real consistent finisher.
"I always had confidence in myself,'' Sutton said last week. "I may not have had the success [the previous two seasons], may not have had the plays I've had this year. However, I've never lost the confidence of being able to go out and perform.''
Sutton has done the heavy touchdown lifting for the Broncos despite far fewer opportunities than many of his front-line brethren at the position. After Sunday, Sutton was 43rd in the league in targets and 46th in receptions.
But to know his essence as a player, just peel those numbers back a bit more and Sutton is in the league's top 15 in NextGen's tight window receptions -- when the nearest defender is one yard or fewer yards away at catch.
He has done his best work in a crowd and doing it when it matters most for the Broncos' offense that hasn't found the high gear very often this season. And if he misses one or both of the final two games, that will be the most difficult item for the Broncos to overcome.
"It's about concentration, it's about timing,'' Broncos wide receivers coach Keary Colbert said. "It's about just a mentality, that it's your ball, you have to go get it, come down with it. He's shown he is one of the better guys in the league in that category and it's not even a question. Some guys just have it.
"[The] quarterback is going to give you a shot and trust that you're the one who is going to come down with it,'' Colbert added. "People say it's a 50-50 ball, but we don't talk about it like that, we say it's 80-20 and we've got to come down with it.''
Still, the Broncos could end up finishing without a 1,000-yard receiver for the fourth consecutive season. Even Sutton, who does not have 100-yard game this season, was on pace for 935 yards before Sunday's game.
But it's clear his promise to remake himself after last season has been fulfilled. In many ways, what he's done in 15 games, especially scoring, including some of the team's greatest degree of difficulty highlight moments, has been better than even his Pro Bowl season in 2019.
Sutton finished with 72 catches for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns that year, before a torn ACL in Week 2 of 2020, followed by two-touchdown seasons in both 2021 and 2022.
"There's always still more to tap into,'' Sutton said. "I still don't feel like I'm in my final form.''