LB Justin Hollins plays insane percentage of Broncos' defensive snaps vs. Rams

The Denver Broncos lost their fourth preseason game of the summer, falling 10-6 to the L.A. Rams. Missing in action were about 25 starters, or key contributors, whom the team chose to rest on Saturday night.

Those players got to spectate from the sideline because the Broncos have big plans for them this year. The team didn't want to risk any of them to injury unnecessarily in an exhibition game.

What does that mean for Justin Hollins, though? The rookie linebacker saw 69 snaps on defense, which meant he was on the field literally 100% of the time defensively.

Hollins even chipped in seven special teams snaps. The rook was all over the place, seeing time at both inside and outside linebacker.

Hollins finished the game with a team-high eight tackles (five solo). Immediately following the game, head coach Vic Fangio was a little reluctant to speak on Hollins' performance, you know, without having watched the film yet.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know. I've got to see the tape," Fangio said on Saturday night. "No one focused on him a whole lot. I don’t know how his pass rush was. I didn’t have the feel during the game that we were getting much pass rush from the guys we had in there.”

Hollins might not have generated a lot of pressure as an outside 'backer, but he was a force to be reckoned with at off-ball linebacker. He was all over the field, making tackles and finding a way to make a play in some key moments.

The Broncos have some question marks at inside linebacker with Todd Davis and Joe Jones still sidelined. The two injuries have given rise to guys like Alexander Johnson and Justin Hollins, who've so far seized the opportunities provided by that most despised and virulent of bugs.

Fangio spoke to the Broncos' ILB depth and whether he's seen enough from the young backups to feel comfortable.

“I’m not sure yet," Fangio admitted. "I've obviously got to see the tape, but there was some plays in there I know they misplayed. I don’t want those plays to skew the whole outlook. I got to see it all.”

Also vying with Hollins for one of the two backup ILB spots behind starters Todd Davis and Josey Jewell are the second-year Keishawn Bierria, third-year safety-convert Jamal Carter and undrafted rookie Josh Watson. Bierria has been mostly seen-not-heard during this preseason but he did make a big stop on 4th-&-goal on Saturday night, stopping a Rams TE from breaking the plane and giving the ball back to the Broncos' offense.

“Yeah, it was a good play," Fangio said regarding that 4th-&-goal play Bierria made. "We’re in man coverage, he covered his man well enough to stop him from getting two yards, I guess it was from the 2-yard line.”

Not the most glowing of compliments from Coach Fangio, but then again, that's not really his style. And the truth is, it was the first time Bierria's done something positively noteworthy in-game all summer.

Back to Justin Hollins, though. The Broncos have put a lot on his plate this summer, asking him to learn and execute two linebacker positions as a rookie.

For the first time vs. the Rams, we caught a glimpse of the vision the Broncos have for Hollins, and why Fangio and company have so much faith in his talent. At 6-foot-5, 248 pounds, Hollins has tremendous athleticism for a player of his size.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Hollins play a ton of snaps in the Broncos' preseason finale on Thursday at home vs. the Arizona Cardinals. The team recognizes the ILB position has been the veritable walking wounded, which means odds are, the Broncos will have to turn to their young depth to play at some point in the regular season.

Hollins has proven that the more live-bullet reps he can get, and the more the Broncos put on his plate, the better he is. Give the rook what he needs. More reps.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.