Bill Belichick wouldn’t offer much clarity Sunday on the weekend’s highest-profile Patriots roster move.
New England’s head coach was asked after his team’s 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders why he chose to promote rookie Malik Cunningham from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and install him as the primary backup to quarterback Mac Jones.
“We have a lot of people that are hurt,” Belichick replied during his postgame news conference at Allegiant Stadium.
That certainly is true. The Patriots have been hammered by injuries on both sides of the ball this season.
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The list of players who were unavailable for Sunday included the likes of Christian Gonzalez, Matthew Judon, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Demario Douglas, Cole Strange, Riley Reiff, Jack Jones and Marcus Jones. Several others joined that group during the game, with Rhamondre Stevenson, Jonathan Jones, Keion White, Hunter Henry and Josh Uche all receiving medical attention and White, Henry and Uche unable to return.
That list did not, however, include backup QBs Bailey Zappe and Will Grier. Zappe was demoted from second string to emergency third quarterback, and Grier was a healthy scratch.
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So, the Patriots’ rash of injuries did not explain Cunningham’s unexpected ascent up the depth chart. Had Jones either been benched for a third straight week or suffered an injury of his own, Cunningham would have been their only option behind center, with Zappe only eligible to play if Jones and Cunningham both were medically unavailable.
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It never came to that. Jones attempted all 33 of New England’s passes in the loss, completing 24 for 200 yards and no touchdowns with one ugly first-half interception. Cunningham saw action at both quarterback and wide receiver but only played roughly a half-dozen snaps.
The undrafted rookie handed off once to Stevenson, took a sack on a fourth-quarter dropback and was on the field for Ezekiel Elliott’s 2-yard touchdown run. Cunningham lined up under center on that play before motioning out, and center David Andrews snapped the ball directly to Elliott.
Belichick wouldn’t say whether Cunningham will continue to be New England’s QB2 moving forward.
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“We’re just talking about this game,” he told reporters.
Now sitting at 1-5 for the first time since 1995, the Patriots will host the Buffalo Bills next Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
Featured image via Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports Images
