Here’s Patriots’ Plan For Malik Cunningham After Chargers DNP

FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots fans got to see Malik Cunningham suit up for the second time this season on Sunday. But after warming up at both quarterback and wide receiver, the rookie spent the entire afternoon on the sideline.

Cunningham, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, did not play a snap in New England’s 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium despite reports that the team had a “package of plays” in place for him.

Head coach Bill Belichick didn’t offer much of an explanation postgame about why the Louisville product dressed but did not play, saying only that the Patriots “had times where (they) got things going” with starter Bailey Zappe and “wanted to try to stay with what (they) were doing.”

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A day later, Belichick was asked whether he plans to give Cunningham a look at some point over the final five weeks of the season.

“That’s an option,” Belichick said Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “There’s other players that are options, as well. It’s just really a question of time and commitment, and how much you can do and how well you can do it. The more time you commit to some things, that’s less time you commit to something else. You just have to pick your priorities.

“But, yeah, we have some options here, and we’ll look at them. If we feel like there’s an advantage to be gained, then we’ll try to do it. And if there isn’t or we think it’s marginal, then we might not be able to do it. So we’ll just have to see how that goes.”

Cunningham has played just six regular-season snaps at the NFL level, all of which came in a Week 6 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The 25-year-old did not record a pass attempt, carry or target in that brief cameo, so outside of his one touchdown drive in the preseason opener, he’s almost entirely untested at the NFL level.

But Cunningham is far more athletic than New England’s other QB options and, given his dual-threat skill set, could add some necessary juice to a Patriots offense that ranks dead last in the NFL in scoring and totaled just 13 points over its last three games.

Cunningham has two practice squad elevations remaining, so the Patriots could utilize him Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers if they so choose.