Patriots Taking ‘Week To Week’ Approach With Malik Cunningham

Is Malik Cunningham the Patriots' backup quarterback, or are they going to continue trying to develop him at wide receiver?

That's a popular question around New England these days, and we still don't have an answer.

The Patriots signed Cunningham to the active roster Saturday, making him the No. 2 quarterback behind Mac Jones for their Week 6 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. That came after weeks of him serving as their No. 4 option at the position, sitting behind Jones, Bailey Zappe and Will Grier.

The initial role made sense, considering he was still on the practice squad trying to learn how to play wide receiver. Things change, though, with the Patriots now keeping him on as a member of the roster, despite the fact they have an odd plan in place.

"I think that'll be week to week," Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien told reporters Tuesday. "That'll be week to week depending on different things that go on. You could see him at different spots throughout the offense, obviously other than offensive line, you could play him in a lot of different places.

"It'll be week to week based on the game plan and we're pretty early in this week. I would say -- I don't think we have any idea where that would be this week. It'll be week to week."

That's one way to develop a young player...

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Cunningham played six snaps in the Raiders loss, lining up at quarterback twice and being sacked once. He did see time at wideout, but mostly in decoy situations -- like when he motioned from the backfield for Ezekiel Elliott to score on a wildcat play.

The approach certainly isn't normal, but for as weird as it may seem, the Patriots clearly have a belief that he can handle the work. There also must be a belief in O'Brien, who will be tasked with putting him in a position to succeed, no matter what position that is.

"You put together a package of plays and try not to overload (him), and they're plays within our system -- these aren't brand new plays. They're plays within our system and we try to do a good job. He's a very bright guy. He does a good job. He knows the plays and he's gotten better every week."