"Mario Williams took a lot of criticism after his first game at outside linebacker. He took only 15 snaps and was blocked wide a couple of times when the Jets ran inside him for good yardage.

"Our (starters) didn't really play much football, and the ball went away from him a great deal," coach Gary Kubiak said. "It's a learning process for Mario. I'm encouraged by what I saw. He's going to play a lot more (against New Orleans).

"It's different playing linebacker. "Hopefully, some of those sacks (seven against the Jets) and some of those things that happened with the second group, we start to get with the first group as we play more football.

"I know Mario is excited with what we're doing. I think you'll see him continue to improve.""