FOXBORO — Malik Cunningham took extra aggressive staff reps at quarterback than broad receiver in Sunday afternoon’s follow, however it appears the staff nonetheless views the rookie as extra of a go catcher.
Cunningham, nonetheless listed on the roster as a quarterback, shined in Thursday night time’s preseason opener, including juice to an in any other case lifeless Patriots offense as he went 3-of-4 for 19 yards as a passer whereas including 5 carries for 34 yards with a speeding landing at QB. Cunningham did line up at broad receiver within the recreation however wasn’t focused.
The Patriots paused Sunday’s follow simply previous to the beginning of 11-on-11 drills for lightning within the space. When they continued the session, the primary performs seen by reporters had Cunningham below middle for 2 performs.
“Really kind of the first reps I got with him today that y’all saw,” beginning middle David Andrews mentioned Sunday after follow. “Like every other rookie, he’s getting a lot thrown at him. He’s just trying to take it day by day. He obviously can do some different things, so we’ll see.”
Cunningham later took one other rep at quarterback within the crimson zone later in follow.
Patriots broad receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is happy by what he noticed in Thursday’s recreation, however did notice that the rookie continues to be primarily engaged on his conversion to broad receiver.
“Oh man, it’s fun. That dude is electric,” Smith-Schuster mentioned. “When the soccer is in his arms as a quarterback, he’s very harmful as you can see this previous Thursday night time. He’s a man who’s been doing it in school, so I assume it’s like second nature to him.
“I think he’s probably more on the — still trying to work on that receiver side, which he’s come a long way from where he started in OTAs to where we’re at now. He’s doing really well on both sides of the ball.”
Cunningham did heat up with the remainder of the Patriots broad receivers. Only Cunningham, starter Mac Jones and backup Bailey Zappe noticed time at quarterback in Sunday’s session. Third-stringer Trace McSorley and the scout staff took the break day in an abbreviated follow.
Cunningham and McSorley are way more cellular than Jones and Zappe. Cunningham used his pace and agility to his benefit within the preseason loss to the Houston Texans way more than McSorley, who went 1-of-3 for 4 yards with a 3-yard carry in two drives, each three-and-outs. Zappe began Thursday’s recreation and went 12-of-14 for 79 yards with 6 yards on one carry.
Cunningham’s touchdown-scoring drive was his solely motion in Thursday’s contest. It’s value monitoring how the rookie continues to separate his time in follow transferring ahead. At 6-foot-1, 198 kilos, Cunningham is a bit undersized as a passer and must work on his mechanics, however he may very well be efficient below middle in sure conditions.
The Patriots head to Green Bay for joint practices with the Packers on Wednesday and Thursday. They play the Packers in preseason motion Saturday then journey straight to Tennessee for joint practices and preseason motion with a Titans.
Source: www.bostonherald.com