Bill Belichick on Patriots waiver claim Malcolm Perry: ‘We’ll put him out there and see what it looks like’

The New England Patriots claimed Malcolm Perry off waivers from the Miami Dolphins as rosters around the NFL reached 53 last week.

The ex-Navy quarterback’s role moving forward remains a wait and see.

“At Navy, he really didn’t play the position that he plays now — or has played with Miami,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters of Perry during his press conference on Monday. “He played quarterback. He played wingback. Didn’t really play receiver extended very much. It was kind of, well, it was a wingback. It wasn’t a running back. It wasn’t a receiver. He was somewhere in between.”

Perry, 24, rushed for 2,017 yards as a Midshipmen senior in 2019 to set a single-season FBS record among quarterbacks. The American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year was drafted in seventh round at pick No. 246 overall last spring.

Nine games were played from there as a rookie with Miami. Listed at 5-foot-9, 186 pounds, Perry totaled nine catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. He also totaled three carries for five yards and returned one punt for 12 yards.

“He’s continuing to develop the skills, and most of which he didn’t really do in college,” added Belichick.

Perry saw 156 snaps on offense for the Dolphins. According to Pro Football Focus, five arrived under center and three arrived inline. The remainder arrived between the slot and out wide.

He begins his New England stay in a No. 19 practice jersey.

“We’ll put him out there and see what it looks like,” Belichick said. “But he’s played offensively and in the kicking game. We’ll see how he does there in those roles for us. I don’t really know — we’ve only had him one day on the field. So we’ll take it day by day and see how it progresses.”

The Patriots open the regular season Sunday at Gillette Stadium against Perry’s former Dolphins. Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. ET.