FOXBORO, Mass. — Add JuJu Smith-Schuster to New England’s growing list of Malik Cunningham admirers.
Smith-Schuster raved about Cunningham on Sunday after the latter led an impressive touchdown drive in his first taste of preseason NFL action.
Cunningham took over at quarterback during the fourth quarter of Thursday’s exhibition opener against the Houston Texans and marched the Patriots 75 yards in 14 plays. The dual-threat undrafted rookie carried five times for 34 yards, completed 3 of 4 passes for 19 yards and capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run that featured a highlight-reel juke.
“That dude is electric,” Smith-Schuster said after the Patriots returned to the practice field three days later. “When the football’s in his hands as a quarterback, he’s a very dangerous player, as you could see this past Thursday night. But he’s a guy who’s been doing it in college, so I guess it’s second nature to him to do that.”
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The Patriots signed Cunningham with the intention of converting him into a wide receiver, and he spent the vast majority of his practice reps at wideout until last week. Then, during the leadup to the first preseason game, he began seeing opportunities behind center, where he started 47 games during a prolific college career at Louisville.
That continued Sunday.
Cunningham warmed up with the wideouts at the start of New England’s 13th training camp practice and even returned one kickoff during a special teams period, but his only reps in team drills came at quarterback. There weren’t many of those — just five while reporters were present, compared to 20 for Mac Jones and 18 for Bailey Zappe — and Cunningham finished with zero pass attempts. But he had a chance to hand off to Rhamondre Stevenson, and to take snaps from David Andrews for the first time.
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“Really kind of the first reps I got with him (was Sunday) that y’all saw,” the Patriots’ starting center said after practice. “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.”
The well-liked UDFA doesn’t look anywhere close to being ready to contribute as a receiver — a position he’d never played in his life before arriving in New England. But as a situational, rushing-focused QB with gadget-play potential? The Patriots could be on to something there.
“I think he’s probably more still trying to work on that receiver side, which he’s come a lot way,” Smith-Schuster said. “Starting in OTAs to where we’re at now, he’s doing a great job on both sides of the ball.”
Cunningham’s recent emergence will make him one of the main attractions when the Patriots visit the Green Bay Packers for joint practices this week.
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Featured image via Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports Images
