Malik Cunningham impressed in his Patriots debut on Thursday night.
The undrafted free agent out of Louisville worked at both wide receiver and quarterback as he tries to carve out a role on the 53-man roster this season.
Cunningham completed 3-of-4 passes for 19 yards, and added five carries for 34 yards and the team’s only touchdown in the 20–9 loss to the Texans in the first game of the preseason.
Cunningham’s playmaking ability had coach Bill Belichick impressed in the aftermath, and also caught the eye of fellow Louisville alum and current Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson, who endorsed Cunningham as New England’s starting quarterback on Instagram.
Cunningham posted a picture of himself after the game, and Jackson commented underneath it “QB1”.
Lamar Jackson under #Patriots rookie Malik Cunningham’s latest Instagram post 👀
— Carlos (@NEPatriots6x) August 12, 2023
“QB1🤞🏾” pic.twitter.com/fRGRtRL2fF
The endorsement didn’t stop there.
The NFL’s official Twitter account posted highlights of Cunningham playing wide receiver in the first half and quarterback in the second half, and Jackson was loving it.
“Broski,” Jackson tweeted, with gasoline emojis.
Broski⛽️⛽️ @MalikMalikc10 https://t.co/fQlvz9RIYI
— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) August 11, 2023
Cunningham won’t be New England’s starting quarterback to begin the season, with Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe firmly entrenched in front of him.
However, if Cunningham continues his strong play throughout the rest of the preseason, there’s a chance he could make the final roster as an undrafted free agent, which would be quite the accomplishment after failing to be selected in last April’s NFL draft.
