New England Patriots undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham is listed on the roster as a quarterback, but in the first practice of his NFL career that was open to the media, he didn’t exactly look like one.

As is common practice, Patriots quarterbacks Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe and Trace McSorely all wore red non-contact jerseys in Wednesday’s organized team activities session. As you can see in the clip below, Cunningham (No. 64) did not.

Patriots WR drills.

In order:

DeVante Parker
Kendrick Bourne
Tyquan Thornton
Ty Montgomery
Demario Douglas
Kayshon Boutte
Malik Cunningham
Tre Nixon
Raleigh Webb pic.twitter.com/jspj876Df6

— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) May 31, 2023

He’s also clearly catching a pass rather than throwing one. Jones, Zappe and McSorely all led the Patriots in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 team drills during Wednesday’s practice. The Patriots waited to put Cunningham at quarterback until practice had concluded in a post-team-sprints scout-team session.

“Just seeing him do the things he’s doing at receiver, it’s a thumbs up from me,” wide receiver Tyquan Thornton said about Cunningham after practice.

Cunningham played quarterback at rookie minicamp. Since then, he’s bounced around the field, according to a source. It seems the Patriots are still trying to figure out what to do with the undrafted rookie who commanded a Patriots-record $200,000 guarantee and $30,000 signing bonus.

Cunningham, who ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine and reportedly was open to changing positions, didn’t look out of place athletically among wide receivers. New England had success moving Julian Edelman from college quarterback to NFL wide receiver. Former Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers started out his college career as a quarterback. So, there’s a path for Cunningham to find success in New England if they do move him to a new position.

Whether or not a switch is permanent remains to be seen.