Malik Cunningham was one of the stars of the New England Patriots' preseason opener versus the Houston Texans on Thursday night.
Even though he didn't go in at quarterback until late in the fourth quarter, the undrafted rookie injected some much-needed excitement into the Patriots offense.
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He even scored New England's first and only touchdown with a 9-yard run that included a pretty effective juke. Social media went crazy with reaction following the play, and even Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was impressed.
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Cunningham completed three of four pass attempts for 19 yards and had a touchdown pass dropped in the end zone by Tre Nixon. He also ran for 34 yards and a touchdown in limited snaps.
Here's a rundown of Patriots players reacting to Cunningham's preseason debut after the 20-9 loss to the Texans.
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Bailey Zappe, QB
"Malik came in and did a phenomenal job, had a really good drive. Scored the only touchdown of the game. Did really good in both the run game and the pass game. It was really nice to see him do that. Especially his first game in the NFL, to be able to go out there and kind of put the jitters aside and play like he did was really good to see. I think like everybody, I'm sure he had those little nerves, little jitters the first play or so. As the drive went on, you could see he got comfortable with it. To be able to see him score a touchdown and how excited he got, was really good."
Christian Gonzalez, CB
"Yeah it was real fun to see him come out there and just ball. It was fun to watch that. Super nice guy, always talking, real high energy. To see him be able to go out and do that was a lot of fun on the sideline for us to see that, I am happy for him."
Tyquan Thornton, WR
"I watched him in college when he was at Louisville, so we already knew what he could do, but it's good to see him go out there and do it tonight. It was definitely fun to watch. I know a lot of guys in this room right now who have high hopes for him.
Jalen Mills, DB
"Malik is a young guy who comes in everyday super humble, works hard in practice and you see him give max effort. That's what you want to see from you guys -- make that transition from quarterback to wide receiver and now back to quarterback. Just to see that, and him execute at a good level and get in the end zone, you gotta be happy for a guy like that."
Andrew Stueber, OL
"We all got excited out there. You saw him give the ball to Jake [Andrews] and he spiked the ball. We’re all excited to see another man succeed and do well. It was a great offensive unit out there and a team effort for the final push of the drive. It was great to see him score."
