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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. —** When Sylvester Williams was told that the Broncos would not pick up his fifth-year option, the fourth-year veteran was not disheartened. Conversely, he took their reasoning constructively, and devoted himself to improving further and proving that he could become more dependable during the 2016 season.
"I have to go out there and prove myself again," he said. "At the end of the day, the way I look at it is it benefited me. I'm just looking forward to the challenge of going out there and playing the best I can.
The first week of Broncos OTAs is in the books following Thursday's practice at UCHealth Training Center. (photos by Eric Bakke)
"Pretty much they just said they love me, and they love what I did last year and they thought the number was high for my position and the amount of snaps that I played. They pretty much just told me to keep working."
So that's just what Williams vows to do. He aims to play more snaps in 2016, increasing his percentage of defensive snaps from about 50 percent, per Pro Football Focus.
"I want to obviously improve on that," he said. "I think I have the opportunity to if I keep working. My biggest thing is just to make more plays, make big-time plays for this team and just keep working hard every day, [and] taking on double teams and just doing my job."
Then his individual improvement will add to the team's goal of maintaining its elite status atop the league's defensive ranks.
"I want to go out there every year," he said, "and I want to improve on what I did last year—continue to get better, continue to help this team win games. The most important thing is I'm a Bronco for 2016 and I want to go out and compete for another championship and make this team the best it can be."
With another year gaining comfort and confidence in Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips' defense and under the tutelage of Defensive Line Coach Bill Kollar, the opportunity for Williams to prove himself is there for the taking.
