The Patriots are bringing in some extra help under center as Mac Jones’ struggles continue.
New England is adding quarterback/wide receiver Malik Cunningham to the active roster, and he is getting a three-year deal, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported.
Cunningham was on the Patriots’ practice squad for the first five weeks of this season and will be active when the Patriots take on the Raiders on Sunday.
The Patriots (1-4) have struggled after beating the Jets in week 10, getting blown out on the road, 38-3, by the Cowboys before getting shut out at home by the Saints last week in a 34-0 rout.
Jones was pulled for Bailey Zappe in both games.
“Everyone’s frustrated, of course we’re frustrated,” Jones said after the loss to New Orleans. “At the end of the day, you have to turn that into action.”
New England’s offense has been at the forefront of the team’s issues as the team ranks dead last in the NFL with 11 points per game.
Jones, in his third year as the Patriots’ signal-caller, has not helped matters, ranking 31st out of 36th NFL quarterbacks with a 74.2 passer rating.
He has completed 62.5 percent of his passes (25th in the NFL) but has thrown six interceptions, just one behind league leader Jimmy Garoppolo, who faces the Patriots this week.
On Friday, Belichick told reporters that he was impressed with Cunningham.
“Malik has really worked hard and made a lot of improvement,” Belichick said, according to ESPN. “Anybody that keeps improving, eventually you’ll probably get an opportunity to play.”
Earlier in the week, Belichick did commit to Jones starting in Week 6.
As the Patriots’ struggles became more apparent in October, Belichick and Jones have both felt the heat.
Former NFL QB Robert Griffin III said on ESPN’s “Get Up” at the beginning of the month that the longtime Patriots boss “permanently” stunted Jones’ development.
“For me, this comes down to coaching. In year two, Bill Belichick messed up his young quarterback,” Griffin said on “Get Up.” “When you give him a defensive coordinator and a special teams coordinator as his offensive coordinator, and now he’s on his third offensive coordinator in three years in the NFL, that to me is the epitome of a coaching malpractice.”
“He really overthought this, and it’s hurt Mac Jones permanently in my opinion,” Griffin added.
A person close to Jones told Fox Sports after the loss to the Saints that Jones has struggled because of a poor supporting cast.
“No matter how good of cook you are, you cannot make garbage taste good,” the person said. “Even if it was not Mac at QB, what QB would want to play here under these conditions?”
Cunningham was originally signed by the Patriots this year as an undrafted free agent and was originally cut at the end of the preseason before being brought back onto the practice squad.
He threw for 9,664 passing yards, rushed for 3,179 yards and record 120 total touchdowns during his time at Louisville.
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