The Christian Ponder era is over in Denver. And, the sad thing is, it never even began.

Ponder was brought into serve as an emergency backup to Brock Osweiler as Peyton Manning works his way back from the plantar fascia injury which has sidelined him for three weeks.

But, he didn’t see a down on the field and was waived on Tuesday.

Ponder was likely waived to make room for a defensive back, as Denver’s defensive backfield is riddled with injuries currently.

T.J. Ward missed the last two games with an ankle injury, pushing David Bruton Jr. into the starting lineup and forcing the Broncos to re-sign safety Josh Bush last week.

In the win over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, Bruton sustained a sprained MCL and PCL, leaving his status for this week’s game up in the air. So, the Broncos will likely look to sign another safety or multi-use defensive back off of waivers in case Bruton and Ward cannot play this week when the Oakland Raiders come to town.

Meanwhile, Osweiler will start this Sunday as Manning continues to rehab his injured foot. As soon as he’s healthy, head coach Gary Kubiak has said Manning will be the starting quarterback once again.

Rookie Trevon Siemian is the team’s backup for now.