ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos fans wishing to see more of Tim Tebow might get more of the same instead.

Denvercoach Josh McDaniels said Monday that he's not planning to use his rawrookie quarterback much differently than he did in his NFL debut Sunday,when the former Florida star was on the field for just three snaps in a24-17 loss at Jacksonville.

The college football icon, who grewup in Jacksonville, entered on the third play and gained a yard on aquarterback keeper on first-and-10, something he'd do again in thesecond quarter after lining up once at wide receiver.

Even when Tebow did go in, starting quarterback Kyle Orton stayed on the field and relayed the plays given to him through his headset, and McDaniels said he'd like to keep it that way.

Eventhough Orton said his rhythm wasn't affected by sharing a couple ofsnaps here and there, McDaniels downplayed the notion of a straightsubstitution of his starting quarterback and his first-round draft pick.

"Idon't think I have any desire to do that with Kyle coming off thefield, coming on the field, coming off," McDaniels said. "I don't thinkthat's really something that we're looking to do much of. Like I saidyesterday after the game, I think our quarterback played pretty well. Ithink he will play well. [I have] great confidence in his ability toexecute what we're doing."

The prevailing wisdom heading into thisseason was that McDaniels, who stunned the league by selecting Tebowwith the 25th overall pick in the draft six months ago, would capitalizeon the three-time All-American's pass-run option talents by using himin third-and-short or red-zone situations.

That didn't happen in the opener.

TheBroncos feel so good about Orton's progress in his second year in thissystem — and maybe equally cautious about Tebow's long road ahead —that they rewarded Orton with a contract extension through 2011 lastmonth.

Orton was masterful Sunday until the fourth quarter, when he threw a fourth-down pass that Brandon Lloyd couldn't quite come down with in the end zone and then got picked off on his final drive in the closing seconds.

McDaniels said he would have used Tebow more had his carries been more productive.

"Itwas just a portion of the game plan that we wanted to go ahead and putin there. If it gave us some benefits, great. We threw a pass or two outof it, completed them. A couple of runs, didn't do much with those,"McDaniels said. "And again, going into the game we didn't have it as asignificant portion of what we were going to do, we'd just see how itaffected them and if it gave us some positive plays, we stay in itlonger and if it didn't, we didn't."

The Jaguars weren't fooled atall, and both times that Tebow got the snap, he didn't run overlinebackers like he did in college, but got hammered at the line ofscrimmage.

Defensive end Aaron Kampman said the Jaguars were "very prepared" for Tebow's snaps.

His first run was stuffed by defensive tackle Tyson Alualu,the Jaguars' first-round draft pick and the target of some ire amongJacksonville fans who thought taking their hometown hero would have beena wiser choice for a franchise that struggles to sell out games.

McDanielsis taking some heat for inserting Tebow into the drives he did. Bothtimes Tebow took the snap after the Broncos had just made big plays, butboth drives later stalled.

Orton said Tebow's presence didn'taffect his rhythm, however, suggesting he could sit in the stands for aplay, come back and keep right on rolling.

And after Tebow's first run, Orton completed a 13-yard pass. After his second, a 6-yarder.

Notably,Orton's five pass plays of 25 yards or more were the most of anyquarterback who played Sunday. They included passes that went 36, 27 and27 yards in the air — in stark contrast to last season when two bumankles altered his mechanics and prevented him from properly steppinginto his throws, preventing McDaniels from calling many deep passes.

McDaniels said it's not just a matter of health but habit, with Orton having worked more with speedsters Lloyd, Eddie Royal and Jabar Gaffney this spring and summer.

The Broncos, however, no longer have Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall to create matchup problems once they get inside the 20, and Demaryius Thomas,their top draft pick who packs 229 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame, wasinactive Sunday after missing most of camp with a foot injury.

Thomastold The Associated Press on Monday that he's still dealing with painand feels like he's still at least a couple of weeks away from beingable to return to the field.

Orton was 1 for 4 in the red zone with an 8-yard TD toss to Gaffney, all with Tebow watching attentively from the sideline.

As for his first taste of the NFL, Tebow was pleased if hardly satisfied.

"Togo out there and run on the field a few times and get a few plays wasfun," he said. "It was a learning opportunity for me, an opportunity toget better."