Barron will be tested by draft's top pick

ST. LOUIS -- Mario Williams' next preseason test will be butting heads with a first-round pick from last season.

Williams, this year's No. 1 overall selection, got 11 snaps at defensive end in his professional debut with the Houston Texans last week. Tonight, promising St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Alex Barron will be on the other side of the ball.

"Alex was a pretty high draft pick himself, so it will be a pretty good matchup," Rams offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. "It's always good to get experience against a player like that."

Williams was credited with one assist in the opener and was largely neutralized by Chiefs guard Will Shields. Coach Gary Kubiak said Williams also made some alignment mistakes and generally "played like a rookie."

"He got introduced to the NFL real fast," Kubiak said. "I was encouraged by what I saw, but I also know he has a long way to go. I expect him to come back and be better this week."

The Rams figure Williams also will test rookie tight end Joe Klopfenstein, a second-round pick who has emerged as the front-runner for a starting job vacated when Brandon Manumaleuna was traded to the Chargers in the offseason.

"I'm not so much worried about Alex as I am about Joe," Olson said. "That's going to be a great test for him."

The game matches a pair of former offensive coordinators just beginning as head coaches. Kubiak was with the Denver Broncos from 2003 to 2005, while Scott Linehan ran the Miami Dolphin's offense last season and the Minnesota Vikings' offense the three years before that.

Both teams displayed balance in their preseason opener. Linehan hired former Saints head coach Jim Haslett as his defensive coordinator, and the Rams gained 404 yards last week while holding the Colts to 249 yards in a 19-17 victory.

The Texans held the Chiefs to 172 yards in a 24-14 victory.

Both coaches will ramp up playing time for the first string a little bit. But both say they just want to see progress this week.

"I think every day we do this we want to improve in some way, but they need to handle the little things, the little details of the game," Linehan said. "The game management situations, whether it be a coach or a player, how we tackle, how we secure the ball."

Linehan said it'll be a game-time decision whether offensive tackle Orlando Pace, hampered by a slightly sprained right ankle and knee, will play. Defensive end Leonard Little has been slowed by a quad sprain and might be held out.

Texans running back Domanick Davis still has soreness in a knee that underwent arthroscopic surgery in December and has not practiced since the third day of camp. Kubiak wants Vernand Morency, a third-round pick last year who did not play in the opener, to see significant playing time.

"Other than that, I really just want to look at all of these guys again because you start to run out of time," Kubiak said.

Kubiak said his starters could play as much as a half depending on the flow of the game.

"They'll definitely play more," Kubiak said. "How much more, I don't know."