For a guy who’s learning how to play wide receiver, Malik Cunningham seemed to remember how to play quarterback pretty well on Thursday night.

A prep star at Park Crossing in Montgomery, Cunningham was a four-year starter at quarterback for Louisville, with 72 touchdown passes and 50 TD runs. The New England Patriots signed him in May with the intention of converting Cunningham to wide receiver.

But in the Patriots’ preseason opener on Thursday night, Cunningham played quarterback for one series and produced New England’s only touchdown in a 20-9 loss to the Houston Texans.

In Thursday night’s other NFL preseason game, the Seattle Seahawks got a scoring pass apiece from Drew Lock and Holton Ahlers for the final two touchdowns in a 24-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Cunningham completed 3-of-4 passes for 19 yards and ran five times for 34 yards and one touchdown against Houston. He capped a 14-play, 75-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run with 1:54 to play.

“Did a nice job,” New England coach Bill Belichick said about Cunningham. “Showed some poise out there, some toughness. Moved the team. That was nice. Did a nice job.”

Belichick said the Patriots had given Cunningham more quarterback reps in recent practices after working him mainly at wide receiver earlier in training camp.

“That’s his opportunity,” Belichick said. “He’s done a good job with it. He’s embraced it. He’s worked hard. He’s improved a lot as a receiver. Snaps he’s had at quarterback in practice and tonight, he’s done a pretty good job.”

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New England’s No. 1 quarterback, former Alabama All-America Mac Jones, did not play on Thursday night. Backup QB Bailey Zappe played through the first possession of the third quarter before Trace McSorley ran the Patriots’ offense for two series.

New England had three points and 89 yards when Cunningham entered the game at quarterback with 9:52 to play and helmed a touchdown march that took 7:58, the longest possession in the game by more than three minutes.

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“It feels good,” Cunningham said. “I’m a team player, so whatever the coaches need me to do, I’m going to do it for the team. That’s what happened, Coach told me to go to quarterback, and we had no touchdowns, so I told the O-line, the whole group, that we were going to go down and score. And that’s what we did. …

“It felt good. I mean, at times they were bringing a lot of pressure. They had a good defense, had a good scheme, so I just feel like my running ability gave us a little more options on offense to open it up so they didn’t know if we were going to pass or run. That was pretty fun.”

Houston wide receiver Tank Dell, who started his college career at Alabama A&M, also scored in his pro debut with a 6-yard touchdown reception as the Texans took a 7-3 lead with 12 seconds left in the first half. Dell’s touchdown came on a circus catch when he finally corralled the football on his back in the end zone.

Dell finished with five receptions for 65 yards and returned a punt for 13 yards.

Also making his debut as a head coach was Houston’s DeMeco Ryans, a former Jess Lanier High School and Alabama standout. Ryans took the reins for the Texans this year after serving as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator.

“It was good to see Tank make some plays,” Ryans said. “We’ve seen him make a lot of plays throughout training camp, some of these same plays, so it was good to see him do the same thing here in a game. He’s going to be an explosive playmaker for us, and we look forward to him continuing to make some of those plays.”

Other players from Alabama high schools and colleges involved in Thursday night’s games included:

Houston Texans 20, New England Patriots 9

· Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama) started at defensive end for the Texans in his pro debut. Anderson recorded one tackle.

· Patriots center Jake Andrews (Stanhope Elmore, Troy) did not record any stats in his pro debut.

· Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore (Alabama) did not play.

· Nico Collins (Clay-Chalkville) started at wide receiver for the Texans. Collins had an 8-yard reception.

· Texans defensive tackle Byron Cowart (Auburn) recorded one tackle for loss.

· Patriots defensive end Trey Flowers (Columbia) is on the physically-unable-to-perform list and not eligible to play.

· Christian Harris (Alabama) started at linebacker for the Texans. Harris made one tackle.

· Texans offensive tackle Tytus Howard (Monroe County, Alabama State) did not play. Slated to be Houston’s right tackle this season, Howard sustained a broken hand in practice on Saturday. He has had surgery, and the Texans are hopeful that he could return for the season-opening game on Sept. 10.

· Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville, Alabama) started at linebacker for the Patriots. Jennings made one tackle.

· Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones (Auburn) did not play.

· Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (Enterprise, Troy) did not play.

· Texans wide receiver John Metchie III (Alabama) caught a 5-yard pass in his pro debut. A second-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, Metchie missed his entire rookie season after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in July 2022.

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· Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o (Alabama) led Houston with five tackles.

· Patriots punter Corliss Waitman (South Alabama) averaged 41.5 yards on two punts. Waitman had a 39-yard punt for a fair catch at the Houston 19-yard line and a 44-yard punt returned 5 yards to the New England 40.

· Texans safety Jimmie Ward (Davidson) did not play.

· Mack Wilson (Carver-Montgomery, Alabama) started at linebacker for the Patriots.

· Texans offensive tackle Kilian Zierer (Auburn) did not record any stats.

Seattle Seahawks 24, Minnesota Vikings 13

· Derick Hall (Auburn) started at outside linebacker for the Seahawks in his pro debut.

· Mike Jackson (Spain Park) started at right cornerback for the Seahawks. Jackson made four tackles.

· Vikings running back DeWayne McBride (UAB) ran for 15 yards on six carries and returned three kickoffs for 50 yards in his pro debut.

· Nick Mullens (Spain Park) started at quarterback for the Vikings. Mullens completed 14-of-20 passes for 139 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and had 9 yards on two rushing attempts. Mullens threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Nick Muse as Minnesota took a 10-0 lead with 11:26 left in the first half.

· Seahawks guard Kendall Randolph (Bob Jones, Alabama) did not record any stats.

· Seahawks nose tackle Jarran Reed (Alabama) did not play.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.