'It was a shock to see that': Broncos vouch for teammates after Pro Bowl snubs

[Miles]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Courtland Sutton didn’t much want to talk on Wednesday about being left off the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster.


What was your reaction to the Pro Bowl snub?


“It is what it is,” Sutton said.


Were you surprised?


“It is what it is,” Sutton said.


Would you still like to go if you make it off the alternate list and onto the game-day roster?


“It is what it is,” Sutton said.


What it is — according to Sutton’s teammates — is upsetting and a shock.


The second-year receiver tallied 63 catches for 1,019 yards and six touchdowns through 14 games. He is tied for the third-most receiving yards in the AFC by a wide receiver, and he’s tallied half his touchdowns since Emmanuel Sanders was traded to the 49ers midway through the season.


And while Sutton declined to hash out the snub in the media, his teammates were willing to stand up for him.


“It’s upsetting,” quarterback Drew Lock said. “You’ve seen a guy work super-duper hard and make amazing plays and spectacular catches out on the field. I definitely think he deserves to be one of those guys without a doubt. I think at the same time, he’ll use this as motivation to end up on it possibly next year.”


Phillip Lindsay, who made the Pro Bowl last year as a rookie, said both Sutton and safety Justin Simmons deserved to make the cut. Von Miller, though, was the only Bronco to be named to the Pro Bowl. Sutton, Diontae Spencer and Kareem Jackson were named alternates. Simmons was left off the list completely.


“Him and Justin, it was a shock to see that,” Lindsay said. “You can’t do anything about it. I texted Courtland and I told him that no matter what, he’s Pro Bowler. You go out there, you get double-coverage and you have 1,000 yards like that man did, you’re a Pro Bowler. You don’t have to have someone tag you [as that]. "That’s just like someone saying they tag you and this is what you are. Nah. You go out there and you show it. That man’s a Pro Bowler. He’s an All-Pro and he is going to continue to show it. Justin has had a hell of a season. … I think he’s leading in almost all the stats, but sometimes the ball doesn’t roll your way and they’re going to pick people who they want, but that’s what it comes down to at times.”


Sutton said it was “good to hear” from Lindsay in the wake of the news.


“He did what he did to get there,” Sutton said. “He earned that right to have that. There are guys on this team who are playing at a high level, at a Pro Bowl level, that weren’t able to get that accolade of being voted into the Pro Bowl. We know and we see it. Being around guys in here that are playing at that level, we see it and we get to be around those guys. When those votes come out, it is what it is.


“At the end of the day, we can’t control it, we can’t change it. People voted how they voted. Y’all saw the results."