When Adam Trautman played at Elk Rapids High School a decade ago, he often was told, “Don’t get hurt.”

That’s because there were only about 20 players on the football team at the school in Elk Rapids, a village of 1,500 in northern Michigan. The depth chart at quarterback was rather thin.

“They told me not to get hurt because we didn’t have any other quarterbacks and if I got hurt, we were done,’’ said Trautman, who was then a dual threat at the position and also played cornerback for the Elks.

Trautman is now a tight end for the Broncos and it again would be a good idea to not get hurt. With Greg Dulcich out for Sunday’s game against Washington at Empower Field at Mile High after being placed on injured reserve Saturday due to a hamstring injury, Trautman is the only proven receiving threat Denver has at the position.

Trautman led the Broncos with five catches for 34 yards in last Sunday’s 17-16 loss to Las Vegas in the opener. After him on Denver’s depth chart is Chris Manhertz, a blocking specialist who never has caught more than six passes in seven previous NFL seasons, and Nate Adkins, an undrafted rookie who was inactive against the Raiders.

Trautman was acquired from New Orleans on the second day of the draft in April along with a seventh-round pick for a sixth-round selection. He has emerged as a key pickup due to his ability to block and consistency as a receiver.

“Adam does a number of things well,’’ said Broncos coach Sean Payton, who coached Trautman with the Saints in 2020 and 2021. “What I like (is) when we game plan, you know exactly what you’re getting, so you put him in those situations. Obviously, I’m glad we have him.’’

Payton played a key role in New Orleans selecting Trautman in third round of the 2020 draft out of the University of Dayton. And since then Trautman has continued to defy the odds following his humble beginnings.

The 6-foot-5, 253-pound Trautman is the only player ever to make the NFL from Elk Rapids High School, which is about 15 miles north of Traverse City and 250 miles northwest of Detroit. His school had an enrollment of 380 students and Trautman said there were 18 players on the football roster when he was a junior in 2013 before it was beefed up to 21 in 2014.

“It is rarer than rare,’’ Ed Schindler, Trautman’s coach at Elk Rapids, said of a player going from that school to make the NFL. “It had never happened before and it might never happen again. … On the team, you would play both ways if you could walk and talk and chew bumble gum but Adam was a great athlete.”

Still, Trautman was a late bloomer. Schindler, who is now the head coach an hour down the road at Frankfort (Mich.) High School, said Trautman was 6-1, 110 pounds in the eighth grade.

“He was built like a giraffe,’’ Schlinder said. “When he was a sophomore, he didn’t even play varsity.”

One reason was that Trautman’s older brother Andrew was then a senior and the starting quarterback. His younger brother, Alec, later also would play quarterback for the Elks.

Schindler said Trautman would implore him to open the weight room at all hours and he eventually beefed up. And after both running and passing for 1,000 yards in his junior and senior seasons, he enrolled at Dayton to play quarterback. But that didn’t last long.

“Nine days,’’ Trautman said of how long he was a quarterback at the school, which doesn’t give football scholarships. “There were some older guys in the quarterback room and I was like struggling.”

Trautman wanted to contribute to the team, so he told offensive coordinator Austin King he would be willing to switch to tight end.

“He said: ‘You’re a freshman and you don’t need to switch positons. You got a lot more time,’’’ Trautman said. “But two days later he switched me and said, ‘ Go grab a white jersey.”’

It worked out quite well for Trautman at his new position while playing under head coach Rick Chamberlin and King, a former NFL center. King is now Denver’s assistant offensive line coach.

After redshirting in 2015, Trautman went on to catch 178 passes for 2,295 yards 31 touchdowns in 44 career games while also establishing himself as a rugged blocker. As a senior in 2019, Trautman caught 70 balls for 916 yards and 14 touchdowns.

One reason Trautman, who was a straight-A student in high school, had gone to Dayton was to study electrical engineering and to get a job in that field. But after Trautman was selected in the third round by the Saints, that was put on hold.

“I felt like I was in a great spot, obviously with Coach Payton,’’ Trautman said. “I love playing for Coach Payton. He’s super detailed and that’s how my mind works.”

Trautman caught 15 passes for 171 yards as a Saints rookie in 2020 and 27 balls for 263 yards in 2021. But then Payton left and Trautman’s numbers fell off to 18 catches for 207 yards in 2022. Trautman was used more as a blocker under new coach Dennis Allen and believed he could contribute more as a receiver.

“In the first week of February, I asked to get traded,’’ he said. “Fortunately, it materialized this way. The top spot I wanted to come was (Denver) and it worked out.”

As soon as the trade went down, Trautman said Payton called him and “told me how excited he was.”

It didn’t take long for Trautman to make an impact with his new team. When the first unofficial depth chart came out prior to the Aug. 11 preseason opener at Arizona, he was listed as the first-team tight end. That surprised some since Dulcich was coming off a rookie season in which he had 33 catches for 411 yards while playing in just 10 games.

Dulcich, who must miss at least four games after being placed on injured reserve, is regarded as Denver’s best receiving tight end but is still trying to establish himself as a blocker. His seven missed games last season were due to a right hamstring injury and he hurt the same hamstring against the Raiders.

“I’ve been double dipping both in the blocking and receiving game and I don’t really see any of that changing,’’ Trautman said of Dulcich being out. “Obviously, someone’s got to fill a lot of the role of Greg and we’ll split that up in the tight end room however we need to.”

Entering Sunday’s game without Dulcich, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson has plenty of confidence in Trautman.

“Trautman has been in (Payton’s offensive) system,’’ Wilson said. “He really understands what he’s trying to do and what our offense is trying to do as well. He’s extremely talented and catches the ball really well.”

Manhertz, who played under Payton with the Saints in 2015 and 2016, said Trautman is “severely underrated” as an NFL tight end.

“He adds value to the pass and the run game,’’ Manhertz said. “He’s reliable in both areas. … And being a former quarterback, I think that certainly helps being a threat in the pass game. He understands coverages and can process things quickly.”

Trautman’s experience as a quarterback wasn’t exactly at the highest level considering he played in the second smallest of the eight Michigan high school football divisions and he lasted nine days at the position at Dayton. But everything has worked out just fine at tight end.

“It feels good,’’ Trautman said of his path to the NFL. “Obviously, it’s pretty rare to come from my area and the school I went to college. Obviously, it’s unique and I’m super grateful for every opporitnity I’ve had and I’ve been able capitalize on those and that’s what’s gotten me to this point.”