Bill Belichick Hints At Bigger Role For Patriots’ Backup Quarterback

The New England Patriots couldn’t beat the Las Vegas Raiders. This was their fifth loss of the 2023 regular season. Head coach Bill Belichick was visibly frustrated and even threw his tablet at one point of the game. Players struggled to win the game against former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, but one player may have secured his spot in New England. Belichick decided to try another backup quarterback and it was a good move.

Malik Cunningham stepped in as a backup quarterback for Mac Jones and Belichick saw his potential. Will Cunningham finally get a chance to play at quarterback? The Patriots wanted to try him as wide receiver and this was supposed to be his role throughout the entire season. It may be time for a change.

Coach Belichick may have found the perfect backup quarterback

Belichick appreciates versatile players, which makes Cunningham even more special for the Patriots. He was great in training camp, but the Patriots didn’t elevate him from the practice until Week 6. Now is the perfect time to shine!

Cunningham replaced Jones in the game against the Raiders and played different roles. He lined up at wide receiver three times and quarterback three times. Cunningham didn’t really show a monster performance and handed off twice and also got sacked. However, Belichick noticed something special.

Belichick has nothing but words of praise for Cunningham and shared his thoughts during the video conference.

“Malik’s improved a lot during the course of the year, both at receiver and in the kicking game and some of the snaps that he’s taken at quarterback,” Belichick said. “We didn’t really get too much of a chance to see him (Sunday). It was a tough situation. They made a good call and hit us on a perimeter blitz there (on his sack). But he’s been good to work with, he’s made a lot of improvement, and we’ll see where it goes.”

This is more than enough for us to think that Cunningham may see more playing time as a Patriots quarterback.