Patriots Chasing Malik Cunningham, Catching Eagles' Jalen Hurts?

Though he won't play a down on Sunday, Malik Cunningham has an intriguing role to play in the New England Patriots' season opener.

Those who crave quarterback-centered storylines will no doubt turn their attention to Sunday's Week 1 kickoff game between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS). 

Their leering eyes will no doubt center upon Mac Jones and Jalen Hurts, each of whom enter fateful campaigns in navy and green respectively: Jones may be playing for the future of his franchise quarterbacking career while Hurts is looking to prove that last year's 16-win showcase, one that fell three point short of a Vince Lombardi Trophy hoist, was no fluke. Their battle will be staged in the shadow of Gillette Stadium's recognition of Tom Brady's illustrious New England career, a ceremony that, realistically for proper gratitude, should last weeks.

It's thus no surprise that the conversation has moved away from Malik Cunningham, the latest Patriots preseason hero. The undrafted free agent passer out of Louisville wowed fans with his multi-faceted talents and played his summer success into a spot on the Patriots' practice squad, which has yielded him an unexpected acting gig. 

Cunningham's dual-threat nature made him an obvious choice to imitate Hurts as the Patriots' defense faces the challenge of at least postponing the start of his quest to match or surpass the 4,461 passing and rushing yards he accumulated last year. With the countdown to the Eagles' visit in its final hours, Cunningham's performance has garnered mixed reviews. 

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Count primary pass rusher Josh Uche among the praisers.

“It just helps to go against anybody that’s athletic running the ball,” Uche said, per Dakota Randall of NESN. “Working on your leverage, working on your fundamentals, tackling, all that stuff, it definitely helps when you have somebody that’s not a pocket passer.”

Of course, leave it to the eternally stoic Bill Belichick, on the other hand, to bring Cunningham back down to Earth.

"I think it would be a stretch to compare Malik Cunningham to Jalen Hurts now," Belichick bluntly, yet realistically, declared. "We’re talking about a guy who was second in MVP voting last year, or whatever he was. Athletically, there’s some similarities, but you’re talking about arguably the best player in the league, or one of the top two or three best players in the league. Nobody has anybody that can be him, and if they do, that guy’s probably not playing on the scout team for that team anyway."

Sunday will mark Hurts' first career start against the Patriots. Even with his rising talents, Sunday projects to be a formidable challenge thanks to the prescience of pass rushers like Uche, Matt Judon, and Deatrich Wise Jr., a trio that united for 34.5 quarterback takedowns last season.

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