Bill Belichick Won’t Affirm Malik Cunningham As Patriots Backup QB

Stunningly, Malik Cunningham served as the Patriots’ top backup quarterback on Sunday. Not Bailey Zappe, not Will Grier.

But will that also be the case this Sunday when New England hosts the Buffalo Bills?

“Yeah, we’ll deal with next week next week,” Bill Belichick said during a Monday morning WEEI appearance. “Just finished the game here. Make our decisions on next week at another point in time, not right this minute.”

Cunningham reportedly saw an uptick in quarterback reps during practices last week. Will the Patriots again switch around the QB workloads during their Week 7 preparations?

“We just got through the game here,” Belichick said during a video call with reporters. “Talk about next week’s game plan and all that, it’s not even close to that.”

Cunningham, who played quarterback in college but has focused on receiver in New England, wound up seeing just six snaps in Sunday’s 21-17 road loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The undrafted rookie didn’t throw a pass or register a carry but did take one sack.

After getting cut at the end of training camp, Cunningham re-signed with the Patriots practice squad to continue developing at receiver. On Saturday, the Louisville product was signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

How the 1-5 Patriots handle Cunningham from here is anyone’s guess. A Taysom Hill-like role feels possible, but that would require New England’s offensive line to be able to block anything.

As for Mac Jones, his Week 7 status is unclear but he probably did enough Sunday to keep his job for another week. It’s sad, but it’s also true.