Sensing pass-rush pressure, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson spun out of the pocket and started the scramble drill that has been synonymous with the first decade of his NFL career.

But it wasn’t during training camp or last week’s season-opening loss at Seattle. No, this was way back in mid-March, when Wilson was less than two weeks removed from his blockbuster trade to the Broncos and had gathered a group of teammates at his home in San Diego.

“There was no defense, but he would say, ‘Hey, got flushed,’ and take off,” fullback/tight end Andrew Beck said. “He would see how we would work and then tweaked it or adjusted it.”

Most importantly for the Broncos’ skill-position players, the San Diego Sessions were their first in-person glimpse at how Wilson operates in the pocket to extend plays or leaves the pocket to buy additional time so they could recalibrate how they help a scrambling quarterback.

Some of Wilson’s play-making ability was displayed during his 340-yard, one-touchdown, no-interception debut and could again in Sunday’s home opener against Houston.

Wilson was 3-of-6 passing for 66 yards when holding the football for longer than four seconds, according to The Denver Post’s game charting, including a 30-yard pass to receiver Courtland Sutton late in the second quarter that set up a field goal.

“There are going to be some of those times when he’s going to have to break the pocket and I think that showed up a couple times,” coach Nathaniel Hackett said. “He’s electric when he starts running around. You never know where it’s going to go.”

Play after the play

Extending the play works both ways. On the Broncos’ opening drive, Wilson took a field trip around the Broncos’ backfield before scrambling right. He threw in 6.65 seconds and was fortunate Seahawks safety Jamal Adams didn’t intercept him near the goal-line (it went off the crown of Adams’ helmet).

It worked in the right way for the Broncos on the Sutton completion. The Broncos trailed 17-10 and had third-and-8 from their 46-yard line. Wilson was in the shotgun and the Seahawks rushed four against a five-man protection.

2.25 seconds: Wilson stepped up in the pocket.

3.50 seconds: He retreated back in the pocket.

4.50 seconds: He reset his feet and readied to throw.

4.58 seconds: He threw 17 “air” yards to Sutton, who gained 13 post-catch.

“You practice it and it becomes second nature in the game,” Sutton said. “That’s what happened on that play. It broke down and instantly, another play starts and it’s, ‘Let’s get open for him.’”

Sutton initially ran a nine-yard hook route, but then spun around when he saw Wilson under pressure and settled into an open pocket.

Wilson later took 4.77 seconds to throw 18 yards to Sutton and 4.04 seconds to throw 18 yards to Jerry Jeudy.

“These guys are doing great,” Wilson said. “(The 30-yard catch) was a great play by Courtland. Our receivers are doing a tremendous job of just getting open and finding spaces when the play does get extended.”

There is a method to Wilson’s extend-the-play ability. It may look off the cuff when watching live, but his eyes are always downfield, side-to-side and even behind him as he equal parts looks for an open target and sees if he needs to dodge a defender.

“It’s not made up on the fly,” Beck said. “He does a good job of prepping us for it and the coaches let us run with it in practice and don’t blow the play dead if there is a scramble.”

After the San Diego workouts, Wilson returned to his scrambling talking points in April during the first day of offensive installation.

What are some of the keys?

Sutton: “If he’s rolling left, you go left and if he’s going right, you go right.”

Beck: “He has very specific rules for that because it’s something he obviously gets into a lot. The first thing is getting into his vision and then it’s based on concepts (covered) in the meetings and he says, ‘Hey, if we get into a scramble here, I’m expecting you guys to go here, you guys to go here.’”

Tight end Eric Saubert: “We talk about, ‘The play after the play.’ When he does scramble and improvise, we have certain rules that we like to follow — things that he likes. He’s really good at it so we have to be really good at it.”

Players point to training camp as the ideal lab to work on getting used to Wilson’s scrambles. The defense may have “won” the play, but the coaches would not blow the whistle, allowing the offense to move to another play within the same play.

“It’s one of the things we focus on and emphasize during practice,” Sutton said. “You see him break contain and get out of the pocket, another whole play starts and we all know it and we start looking for him. We just know what’s happening and we all come alive.”

Throwing downfield

Ideally, Wilson will be able to stay in the pocket and survey the field. The protection largely held up against Seattle.

“The line gave me a great amount of time to make some throws down the field and to kind of hang in the pocket a little bit, move around and find some guys,” Wilson said.

Wilson was 6-of-9 passing for 40 yards when throwing in 1.00-2.00 seconds, was 14 of 16 for 175 yards in 2.01-3.00 seconds and 6 of 11 for 59 yards in 3.01-4.00 seconds.

Wilson’s 67-yard touchdown to receiver Jerry Jeudy was thrown in 2.41 seconds.

Protection or not, another takeaway from Wilson’s debut was his willingness to throw downfield.

Wilson was 13 of 16 for 103 yards on attempts that didn’t cross the line of scrimmage, but he had more attempts that traveled at least 16 “air” yards (10) than 6-15 yards (seven). He was 5-of-10 on those deep shots for 159 yards. Jeudy’s touchdown was 26 “air” yards.

Hackett doesn’t send in the play thinking Wilson will need to make something out of nothing, but it is a terrific benefit.

“You go with a play and you think the play is going to work,” Hackett said. “A lot of them worked (at Seattle), but all of a sudden if something breaks, it’s, ‘Let’s get ready because that’s a good football play, too.’”

Week 1 Wilson File

A look via The Denver Post’s game charting at Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson’s debut last week at Seattle. He completed 29 of 40 passes for 340 yards and one touchdown:

By “air” distance

By time to throw