Michael Wilson began the week with the understanding that he would be WR1 for the Cardinals this weekend.
In the 41-22 loss to the 49ers, the third-year wide receiver played like it.
"I haven't had a game like that since high school, so regardless of the outcome of the game, that was a big milestone for myself," Wilson told Paul Calvisi on the Cardinals Locker Room Show. "I'm going to be proud of myself because it's hard to get catches in this league."
Wilson finished the game with a career-high 15 receptions for 185 yards. The receptions place him second in team history for a game and the most since the Cardinals arrived in Arizona. Sonny Randle of the St. Louis Cardinals has the franchise record for 16 catches in a game in 1962.
He also became the first Cardinals receiver since DeAndre Hopkins in 2022 to have more than 150 receiving yards in a game.
"I've been here for three years, and I feel like I haven't been able to produce at the level that I wanted to and a lot of that is because my role prior to this game wasn't the number one receiver, and I accepted that role," Wilson said. "If you keep working hard, the laws of nature have a funny way of giving you exactly what you deserve."
There had long been belief throughout the building that a performance like Sunday's was within reach for Wilson. Yet with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride on the field, Wilson's chances were tempered.
McBride still produced on Sunday, hauling in double-digit receptions for 115 yards. Harrison, however, was sidelined following his appendectomy surgery on Monday night. It's unclear how long Harrison will be out, although there's no shortage of confidence if Wilson remains.
"That's what we expected from him," Brissett said. "He was going to rise to the occasion. Like I said earlier in the week in my press conference, I was excited for the opportunity to present itself for him that he was going to put on display what we all see every day. I thought he played his butt off and made a bunch of plays for us."
Coach Jonathan Gannon said Wilson "played his ass off" and applauded the receiver for his physicality and yards after catch production.
One of the highlight plays was in the first quarter when Wilson had a spectacular 34-yard contested catch on third-and-3 in the first quarter, despite being interfered with.
Wilson's reception set up a Bam Knight touchdown.
"Today was one of those moments where the opportunity was at my doorstep and it was going to be on me whether I was going to show up and show what I could do or go the other way and not performing," Wilson said. "I decided when I woke up this morning that I was going to give everything I had to this game."
It's not to say that Wilson doesn't rise in the morning with that same goal ahead of other games. But because of the situation, this game clearly felt different.
He said Sunday's outing validated the work he put in and proved himself right that "I am actually as good as I've thought."
Finishing the game as the Cardinals' leading receiver backed up the claim.
"You can't hang your hat on statistics because I've played really good games where I've had one catch for 11 yards and I've also played decent games where I've had maybe a couple catches for 50 or 60 yards," Wilson said. "To me, it more so looks like what the tape looks like and what you do when the opportunities come your way."
