ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Will Parks is a rookie safety for the Denver Broncos, and when he snared his first career interception Sunday in Cincinnati, he was quick to toss fellow safety T.J. Ward some of the credit.

Parks said Ward, knowing Parks might have to play against the Bengals because of Justin Simmons' wrist injury, sat down with him last Wednesday night to go over some things, to help prepare the rookie to play.

Linebacker Von Miller said he's pulled Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett aside at times, and in the pay-it-forward, do-a-little-more movement, Ward said Monday several defensive players went over game video from Sunday's win over the Bengals as soon as the team returned to Denver that night.

"We study a lot of film, we do extra," Ward said. "We were at Von's house [Sunday] night after the game reviewing the tape: me, [Aqib] Talib, Von and (Kayvon Webster). Before we even get in the meeting room for them to tell us where we made mistakes, we already know. That's the next level if you want to be great."

The Broncos have been forced to juggle some things on defense with DeMarcus Ware's fractured forearm expected to keep him out of the lineup for several weeks. Simmons also has a fractured wrist, and he has played in some of the Broncos' specialty packages on defense.

Ray and Barrett will pick up most of the snaps Ware would have and played. Ray played 49 of 67 defensive plays in the win over the Bengals and Barrett finished with 24 snaps, many of those coming on the 14 plays Miller was not on the field. And, like Miller, Ware said last week he believes part of his job during his recovery -- he had surgery to repair the fracture early last week -- is to keep Ray and Barrett ready to play.

"Those are my guys, Shane and Shaq, but we all want everybody to be ready," Miller said. "I like working with the young guys. I say all the time: I can't lead like DeMarcus does, I'm not going to ask [coach Gary Kubiak] to speak in front of the team, but I can work with the young guys."

On a veteran-packed defense, one loaded with players who have been to the Pro Bowl and who are team leaders, the Broncos have already reaped the benefits of the team's older, more established players reaching out to the younger ones. Parks was on the field for 25 snaps Sunday, while rookie Adam Gotsis played eight snaps in that game and has been in the defensive line rotation all season. And second-year linebacker Zaire Anderson, who spent all of the 2015 season on the team's practice squad, played one snap on defense against the Bengals. Anderson has been a special teams regular all season and forced a fumble Sunday.

"This team is different that way," said linebacker Brandon Marshall. "I've been on another team and I know a lot of guys who play for other teams, and sometimes the older guys don't want to help you. Maybe they don't really talk to you, or they just answer questions with one- or two-word answers. That's not what we're about here. That's not how we do it in this locker room, and I think it shows up on the field."