ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver Broncos tackle Garett Bolles believes he knows where to find answers as he navigates his rookie season, and he isn't going to sit on his hands to get them.

The first-round draft pick very much wants to be in the starting lineup for the Sept. 11 regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, and he has decided the best way to get there is to block like crazy and seek plenty of answers to a seemingly never-ending cascade of questions.

"He seems like he has a lot of questions," said guard Allen Barbre, a 10-year veteran who landed with the Broncos in a trade last week.

"Garett? Oh yeah, Garett's got questions," linebacker Von Miller said. "But Garett, that's just him. How can you not like Garett? How can you not like Garett Bolles? Garett's got that hunger, you know? He's so excited to be with the Broncos, I think when the questions pop in his head, he just asks. And we should answer, because Garett is going to be great."

Like the youngster who believes minutes seem like hours and keeps asking, "How about now?" during trips to try to make the time go faster, Bolles is in a hurry to get to where he wants to go. Something is working: Bolles continues to get more and more playing time with the starters with each passing day of training camp.

"I do, I admit it, I ask a lot of questions -- a lot of questions," Bolles said. "If you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best, you have to grasp the information they give you. And I think everybody here is the best, they get what I'm about, and I'm about faith, family and football, and I want to be great at all three."

Broncos president of football operations/general manager John Elway has always said he never wants to draft solely for need in the first round. Elway believes that is the road to reaching on a player, and you then leave more highly rated prospects on the board for others to draft.

But sometimes a team need will be filled by the exact player you want to take. The Broncos had Bolles rated as the best pass-protector on their board, and the feeling was if Bolles showed enough power at the point of attack in the run game, he could start as a rookie.

Ryan Clady is the most recent rookie to go wire-to-wire at left tackle for the Broncos, in 2008. Ty Sambrailo started three games at left tackle as a rookie in 2015 before a season-ending shoulder injury sent him to injured reserve.

"[Bolles] is still a rookie," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. "He's making small mistakes, but as far as blocking his guy, he's good at that. As far as knowing everything to do right now, he's getting there. But blocking his guy, he can do that."

If he continues to do that through the Broncos' joint practices with the San Francisco 49ers and the preseason games, Bolles figures to be in the lineup on opening night. His football inquisitiveness has certainly helped his cause.

Bolles' veteran teammates say he doesn't ask questions just to look interested or to get the coaches' attention, but to get things right and fix things in his game that he believes need to be fixed.

"I don't want to waste their time and I don't just memorize things to say them back like I have it all down; I want to use the information," Bolles said. "I ask a lot of questions -- a ton. And everybody, Ron Leary, Menelik [Watson], Matt Paradis, Von, everybody, they answer them.

"I want to do better in everything I do. Like [Sunday], it wasn't my best day, but at the same time, I know what to fix, so I need to fix it."

Leary, who was one of the Broncos' primary targets in free agency, said the camaraderie of the Dallas Cowboys' offensive line, where he played for the previous five seasons, was one of the unit's strengths. He sees helping each other -- starters and backups, on and off the field -- as a way to pay it forward.

And he has spent plenty of time with Bolles, as well.

"I'm still trying to figure him out myself," Leary said with a slight smile. "He's a good kid, he loves the game and he's always happy. You need that little juice sometimes, especially when you get into the dog days at camp. He's still learning. We have to reel him in sometimes a little bit, but I love him."

Added Bolles: "I don't know what I'd do if they didn't want to answer me or were just thinking about other things. I appreciate it, and I want to repay them by playing the best I can every single play."