TEMPE, Ariz. -- Michael Wilson has tried to say his job as the Arizona Cardinals' top receiving option over most of the last month hasn't really changed from when he wasn't in that role earlier in the season.
But it has. It was impossible for it not to.
When Wilson has filled in for injured Marvin Harrison Jr. this season, he's flourished as the WR1 to the point of becoming one of the best receivers in the NFL.
Wilson leads the NFL in receiving yards, targets, receptions and receiving first downs over the last four weeks, three of which saw Harrison injured and Wilson become quarterback Jacoby Brissett's top option. That's a trend that's expected to continue Sunday against the Houston Texans with Harrison already ruled out because of a heel injury.
It'll be another week for Wilson to be the Cardinals' WR1, which, if history holds true, means another week of Wilson eclipsing 100 yards.
"I think Mike's done a really good job with the opportunities that he's had and he's winning a lot of one-on-one, as I would say, outside the numbers, inside the numbers, first, second, third level. He's a good football player," coach Jonathan Gannon said. "And just like Jacoby, he is maximizing his opportunity right now, but it's good to see."
Until Week 11 against the 49ers, the most targets Wilson had in a game were nine in Week 3 of the 2024 season.
Then Harrison was sidelined after appendicitis surgery, and Zay Jones and Simi Fehoko were on injured reserve with an Achilles injury and broken arm, respectively. That left Wilson as the best receiver on Arizona's depth chart.
It was next man up, and that was Wilson. And he went from sipping water through a straw to drinking out of a fire hose.
Wilson had seven targets and four catches for 34 yards in Week 10 only to come back in Week 11 to get 18 targets with 15 catches and 185 yards -- career highs all across his stat line. He quickly figured out what the difference was for receivers who were like him to those who were the primary target. In Week 12, he had 10 catches on 15 targets for 118 yards. Then Harrison came back in Week 13 at Tampa Bay and Wilson's numbers dipped to three catches on seven targets for 36 yards only to bounce back last week against the Rams when he had 11 catches on 16 targets for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
"I think I keep going flipflopping back and forth between saying my job doesn't change, but obviously when you're going into a game and the ball's going to come to you, you have to be on it all the time," Wilson said. "And a lot of dudes say, 'I wish I could get 15, 20 targets.'
"Until you get in that situation and it's like, OK, mentally you have to be so locked in all the time."
The last four weeks have given Wilson a newfound respect for other primary targets such as San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey and the Rams' Puka Nacua.
"I got a lot of appreciation for guys that can do that throughout the course of a 17-game season because not only is it physically taxing, but it's also mentally, I guess, exhausting after the game," Wilson said. "You realize I didn't have a moment during that game where my focus could slip at all. I have to be on it all the time because the ball could come to you on first and second down, it can come to you on third and fourth when they're playing man coverage and you've already won against this corner three or four times and beat him on a certain release and now they call the same route and you have to find a different way to beat him."
Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing hasn't seen Wilson's approach change despite being the WR1 -- and that's not always the case, Petzing said.
He's seen players who get promoted to bigger roles try to play outside their ability or outside their day-to-day process. Not Wilson. He's stayed consistent in his process and play, Petzing said.
Brissett has talked about Wilson so much this season that he finds it hard to come up with a new adjective to describe him every week. But on Wednesday, he was successful.
"He has no fear," Brissett said. "I don't think I've said that yet, so that's new."
Wilson will catch it, Brissett said, wherever the quarterback puts it. And when there's an incompletion -- of which there have been 24 on 77 targets -- Wilson makes sure to let Brissett know it was his fault. To which Brissett likes to tell the 25-year-old Wilson, who's in his third season: "You don't have to do that to me. I'm old enough. You don't have to baby me."
Then Brissett will go right back to Wilson.
In his decade in the NFL, Brissett has seen a variety of traits that tend to be common in WR1, including wanting the ball and knowing they're getting ball. They're also not afraid to fail and like telling quarterbacks they're always open, even if they're not, Brissett said.
"The mentality to not be afraid to fail, it's off the charts," Brissett said.
And, Brissett said, Wilson has all of that.
"The amount of confidence that he gives me -- I just feel it when we come out of the huddle, I'm like 'I'm going to Mike,'" Brissett said. "Obviously, the play is probably created for him or something like that. I just can feel it in his route, his intent when he's breaking open and getting his eyes back to the quarterback -- he's catching it.
"I think that's the confidence that he instills in me based on like who he is as a person, the work I see him put in, and his willingness to be vulnerable with me."