While the New England Patriots haven’t had much offensive success with QBs Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, they do have a third quarterback on their active roster in undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham.
Cunningham has played just six snaps for New England this season, with two at quarterback and four at wide receiver. But the Patriots kept him active against the Los Angeles Chargers, and if they do so again, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is worried about Cunningham’s ability as a runner. Cunningham ran for 3,182 yards and 50 touchdowns in five seasons at Louisville, and he also added 39 yards on six attempts while running in the preseason. During The Mike Tomlin Show, Tomlin talked about how someone like Cunningham is a guy who creates anxiety for coaches and players on a short week.
“Malik Cunningham is the guy that creates something that’s a little bit different. They had three quarterbacks active last week. We know his resume at Louisville, so a guy like that with that type of running skills really creates anxiety on a short week. He could show up and do some wildcat-like things, things of that nature. So, that’s something that’s different that has our attention.”
He added that Cunningham can bring “dramatically different schematics” than what the Patriots usually run with Jones and Zappe, and that’s “worrisome” given that it’s a short week.
The other issue for the Patriots when it comes to preparing for Cunningham is that there just isn’t much NFL tape to go off of. I’m sure the Steelers are going back to the preseason when Cunningham played three games, throwing six passes and running the ball six times, but his skill set is going to be tough to prepare for.
It’s not as if Cunningham is going to get a lot of run, but it’s notable that the Patriots made the decision to keep him active last week, and he did say the team has a package of plays that deploy him.
Tomlin also talked about Cunningham bringing a different dynamic during his Tuesday press conference. So it’s clearly something that the Steelers are worried about and planning on New England trying to break out on a short week. A short week with less time to prepare is a good time to throw something tricky into the playbook, especially with two weeks of practice time. However, the Steelers do have experience against mobile quarterbacks this season, including Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray, so they might be ready to stop Cunningham.
We’ll have to see what happens on Thursday and whether or not the Patriots do decide to play Cunningham and if he can make an impact.
