Lamar Jackson impressed by Malik Cunningham's preseason debut with Patriots

BOSTON -- The list of positive offensive Patriots takeaways from Thursday's preseason debut begins and ends with Malik Cunnigham.

An undrafted rookie, Cunningham played quarterback in college at Louisville but joined the Patriots as a receiver. He's gotten most of his NFL work this spring and summer as a receiver, a position he had never played before in his life. But with the preseason nearing, he got some practice reps at quarterback.

And in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's game, he got the call to step in at quarterback. He absolutely shined.

After handing the ball off on his first play, he took off for a 7-yard gain. Two plays later, he completed a quick pass to Scotty Washington for an 11-yard gain. Later in the drive, he took off running and ended up having his entire helmet ripped off by a defender.

Cunningham would have had a dynamite touchdown pass on the run later in the drive, but Tre Nixon dropped the pass in the end zone. Cunningham deemed that miscue irrelevant, though, later rushing for the touchdown in impressive fashion.

In just that one drive, Cunningham electrified the fans who stuck around for the end of the game and put his name on a whole lot of radars around New England. The Patriots lost 20-9, but the fans at least got a show.

One person who already had Cunningham's name on his radar is Lamar Jackson. The Ravens superstar passed the torch to Cunningham at Louisville back in 2018. And though he didn't quite build the profile in college that Jackson did, Cunningham certainly thrived for the Cardinals. Cunningham also threw 70 touchdowns to Jackson's 69.

So when Patriots fans were learning who Cunningham was on Thursday night, Jackson had already known for several years. And he showed his support with a quick tweet after the game:

(Gas is a compliment these days among the young.)

Cunningham showed a willingness and eagerness to embrace a position change to wide receiver this spring, but a performance like the one he had on Thursday night may be the first step in a full-time transition back to quarterback.