During New England coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference, it was suggested the Patriots were fortunate to have Malik Cunningham on their practice squad because during practice he could imitate Jalen Hurts, the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, who are the Patriots’ season-opening opponent on Sunday.

Malik Cunningham was a dual-threat quarterback at Park Crossing High School in Montgomery and Louisville, but neither the New England rookie nor any other player in the NFL can do what Hurts does, Belichick said.

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“Malik’s got some good skills,” Belichick said. “I think it would be a stretch to compare Malik Cunningham to Jalen Hurts now. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who was second in MVP voting last year or whatever he was. Athletically, there’s some similarities, but you’re talking about arguably the best player in the league, or one of the top two or three best players in the league. Nobody has anybody that can be him, and if they do, that guy’s probably not playing on the scout team for that team anyway.

“I mean, it is what it is. We go through that every week. Every team’s got a few good players, and some great players, and it’s hard to replicate those players. If you have one, your guy’s probably not on the scout team doing that for that guy anyway. You do the best you can. We’ll have somebody to try to simulate the best we can what Hurts does, but we don’t have anybody like Hurts, and, probably, neither does anybody else.”

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Belichick isn’t the only Hurts admirer with New England. The Patriots quarterback was a teammate of Hurts at Alabama.

Mac Jones saw Hurts lead the Crimson Tide to the CFP national-championship game, then lose the starting QB job to Tua Tagovailoa. After a season as a backup, Hurts completed his college career with a season at Oklahoma, and he finished as the runner-up in the voting for the 2019 Heisman Trophy.

“Obviously, a great player,” Jones said on Thursday. “I’ve been fortunate to play with him, and I learned a lot from him. Definitely a great quarterback, and I just think back on the times we had. I’m just really proud of him and everything he’s done in the NFL. …

“I think there’s a lot of learning lessons. I definitely took a lot of that. Loved to see him bounce back and do a great job. In college, he went through a lot, transferred and played well everywhere he’s been. It’s just who he is. It’s Jalen Hurts. He’s just a great player, great person and a good friend.”

Jones said conditioning was the first thing that came to mind about what he learned from Hurts at Alabama.

“Me and him were always running against each other,” Jones said. “He is definitely faster than me, but I feel like I gave him a good run for his money. I learned a lot from him, just stuff like that, leading off the field and like the fourth-quarter program we had. He just always did such a good job running, leading, never showed a lot of emotion, just did his thing, and I actually learned a lot from him there. Then, obviously, on the field there is a bunch of stuff, too, so I really appreciate him.”

Jones took a redshirt season at Alabama in 2017, which was Hurts’ second year as the Tide’s starting quarterback. In 2018, Jones threw 13 passes in mop-up duty behind Tagovailoa and Hurts and got on the field as a holder for kicks, too. After Hurts left for Oklahoma, Jones became the backup and went into the starting lineup for the final three games after Tagovailoa suffered a season-ending injury.

In 2020, Jones earned All-American recognition as he set a school single-season record for passing yards and Alabama won the CFP national title with an undefeated season.

“Mac has always been a great competitor,” Hurts said about Jones on Wednesday. “Had a hunger for the game and just learning and always challenging himself, so I’m looking forward to him doing big things this year.”

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The Eagles and Patriots square off at 3:25 p.m. CDT Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

New England is seeking to return to the playoffs after an 8-9 record in 2022.

“This is a great team, a well-coached team that we’re about to play against in a very tough environment,” Hurts said. “For us, we just have to control the things that we can going into a Week 1, just doing our best and being clean and executing at a high level.

“They have a ton of athletes on the back end, and their linebacker crew, they play physical and they fly to the ball. They have a good D-line, and they have really good edge rushers, and the guys inside do a really good job as well.”

Philadelphia is seeking to return to the Super Bowl after going 14-3 in the 2022 regular season and winning the NFC championship before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 in the NFL championship game on Feb. 12.

“You play team football, everybody has a role,” Hurts said. “And I think over the years, I’ve been able to see the importance of that and learn the importance of those roles. And no role is more important than another. Everybody has to put their hand in and dominate their box so we can get the finished product that we want. And so just coming out executing, everybody buying into that and, obviously, having all hands in in doing it.”

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