ENGLEWOOD • It was cutdown day on Aug. 27 and Keidron Smith was waiting around in an anxious state.

The defensive back was on the Broncos’ roster bubble, and he didn’t know what to expect. He would either make the 53-man roster or be waived and extended a practice squad invitation.

“The whole day I was just looking at that clock,’’ Smith said of the 2 p.m. deadline that day for NFL rosters to be set. “It was an anxious day for sure. I didn’t get any calls or anything.”

Finally, as 3 p.m. was approaching, Broncos safety JL Skinner dialed up Smith. He had seen on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Smith had made the 53-man roster and called to offer congratulations.

“I was looking at the little graphic (the Broncos) dropped on Twitter and I said, ‘Let me see if Keidron made it.’ That’s my dawg,’’ Skinner said. “I gave him a call and I said, ‘Bro, looks good.’ He didn’t even know he had made it. I said, ‘Bro, you made active. You made good. You made the team.’ And he was lit from there.’’’

The Broncos reach out to players who tell them they have been waived but don’t always let players who might be considered on the roster bubble know immediately they have made the 53-man roster.

“It was crazy,’’ Smith said. “(Skinner) finally let me know I had made the team. … It’s an honor and a blessing. I put in a lot of work in the offseason and in training camp and I’m glad it paid off.”

Smith, who also got a congratulatory call from Broncos safety P.J. Locke soon after the one from Skinner, had a takeaway in each of Denver’s three preseason games. That included two interceptions, one that he returned 56 years, and a fumble recovery.

Smith was undrafted in 2023 out of Kentucky. He spent time as a rookie with Miami and Washington before joining Denver’s practice squad in December.

“I gave him a call because I’ve been through that,’’ said Locke, who was cut several times after being undrafted in 2019 and spent time on Denver’s practice squad as a rookie. “I just had to give him a call to express my emotions to him. I’m super proud of him and happy for him.’’

Skinner laughed when he recounted how he informed Smith he had made the team after seeing it on social media.

“He was waiting for the call and never got the call,’’ Skinner said. “That’s a good thing, though. Basically, if you get the call, you know it’s that you’re not good.”

Rookie running back Blake Watson also was on the roster bubble and also said it was nerve-racking on cutdown day.

“I felt nerves just sitting around waiting and seeing what happens, just hoping I didn’t get a phone call or get called in or anything like that,” Watson said.

Watson didn’t get a call and didn’t know for sure he had made the 53-man roster until the Broncos put it on social media at 2:42 p.m. that day.

“That’s when I knew for sure,” Watson said. “It was really exciting. I’m glad I’m here and they decided to keep me.”