Patriots rookie Malik Cunningham is already enjoying quarterback, vast receiver and gunner, however he’s taken on one other accountability amongst his rookie class: mentor.
Wide receivers coach Ross Douglas stated Friday that Cunningham helps out fellow rookie wideouts Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte. All three gamers have been standouts for the Patriots this summer season.
“The good thing about Malik is he loves football, and he really cares about being good,” Ross Douglas stated. “That’s the very first thing about him. So every little thing from there actually takes care of itself.
“He’s even taking Demario and Kayshon under his wing, and they’ll walk through the plays, they’ll go in the virtual room back in Foxboro and just really try to get a beat on the next day’s install and really just try to perfect their craft. So, Malik is very mature, he’s very professional already as a rookie, and he takes his craft very seriously. That’s why he’s able to kind of juggle both the quarterback and wide receiver position. He’s not perfect, but the want to and the intentions are there.”
Cunningham was Louisville’s beginning quarterback for 4 years, so he’s used to main his teammates. He performed quarterback in rookie minicamp, primarily switched to vast receiver for OTAs, minicamp and the beginning of coaching camp, and now he’s dabbling in each positions. He was actually the lone vibrant spot for the Patriots’ offense of their preseason-opening loss to the Houston Texans, scoring their lone landing.
Cunningham noticed some motion at each positions this week in joint practices with the Packers. It wouldn’t be shocking if the Patriots stored utilizing him in each roles transferring ahead, doubtlessly even into the common season.
“Malik’s made a lot of progress, because when he came in dating back to when he first started playing football in Pop Warner, high school, college, he had never played the wide receiver position,” Douglas stated. “He was starting from scratch. He’s made a lot of progress. We still have a long way to go, but just seeing the difference from what to was back in May and June to what it is now is significantly better. We still have a long way to go, but he’s definitely making progress.”
Douglas seems to already be a near-roster lock for the Patriots as a 2023 sixth-round decide as he’s excelled out of the slot. Boutte had a sluggish begin to coaching camp however has had a knack for spectacular catches because the summer season was wore on.
Douglas has been inspired by what he’s seen from each gamers since they have been taken within the sixth spherical.
“Those guys ever since we drafted them and got them into the offseason program and in our strength and conditioning program — just get them around the vets — they’ve gotten better every single day that they’ve been here,” Douglas stated. “Just constant growth in everything that has to do with the wide receiver position, and they’ve grown in the classroom, grown on the field. That’s the measure that you want to measure these young guys by, how much better are they getting. And those two are definitely getting better.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com