The Broncos knew they had to make a move to bolster their suddenly thin tight end corps. A.J. Derby was down with a shoulder injury and Jeff Heuerman was out with a knee injury, leaving Virgil Green as the team’s only healthy tight end on the 53-man roster.

Saturday, the team promoted Austin Traylor from the practice squad and, in a surprising corresponding move, waived Derby with an injury designation.

The Broncos acquired Derby from the Patriots late last season, giving up a 2017 fifth-round draft pick when New England had drafted him in the sixth round. Denver clearly saw potential and had high hopes for the college quarterback-turned-tight end. And through nine games, Derby led all Broncos tight ends with 19 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns.

But he had been dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him out of practice this past week, and coach Vance Joseph ruled both him and Heuerman out for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati.

Traylor, an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin, signed with Dallas after the 2016 draft. He bounced on and off practice squads of the Cowboys, Chargers, Patriots and Ravens before the Broncos signed him in December 2016. Traylor competed with the Broncos throughout the offseason and preseason, and was added to the practice squad when the 53-man roster was finalized in early September.

At Wisconsin, Traylor (6-foot-3, 255 pounds) started 18 games and played in 38 games overall. He recorded 17 catches for 234 yards (13.8 avg.) and four touchdowns. He has never played in a regular-season NFL game, but he will make his debut Sunday against the Bengals.

“Anyone who was out here in training camp saw Kyle (Sloter) and Austin hook up more often than not. It might have been the No. 1 connection throughout all of training camp,” offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said. “Every time Kyle was in there, you’d always ask, where is 86 (Traylor)? Is he out there? That’s probably where the ball is going to go. He’s done a great job. The role that he’s been in up to this point in time in the season, he just does what we ask him to do whether it’s in the kicking game, whether it’s look team for the defense or whether he steps in and took plenty of reps on offense. He just does it one way. He works extremely hard, so I’m very pleased with where he’s at.”