Now that the NFL season is officially underway, I wanted to go back and spotlight one of my favorite stories from the preseason. It didn’t involve a superstar making his return, a first-round pick dominating his debut or some massive position battle. Instead, it involved New England Patriots rookie quarterback Behren Morton unexpectedly becoming the team’s punter in the middle of a game—and somehow being pretty good at it.

Yes, you read that correctly. Quarterback and punter.

Morton, a seventh-round pick out of Texas Tech, entered training camp trying to prove he belonged on an NFL roster as a developmental quarterback. During New England’s Aug. 22 preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, however, starting punter Bryce Baringer began feeling unwell after his first two punts. Suddenly, Mike Vrabel needed somebody else to handle the job. His solution was the 24-year-old rookie quarterback who hadn’t punted competitively since high school.

What followed was one of those wonderfully weird preseason moments that reminds you why these games can occasionally be worth watching.

“You’re Going Out There”

Morton did at least have some experience. He punted in high school, where his team reportedly had only 25 players and versatility was basically a necessity. He also grew up competing in punt, pass and kick competitions, so kicking a football wasn’t exactly a foreign concept. Still, there’s quite a difference between punting against high schoolers and standing deep in your own backfield while NFL special-teamers are sprinting directly at you.

There wasn’t much preparation time, either. Morton said after the game that a coach simply approached him on the sideline and told him that if the Patriots needed to punt on the upcoming possession, he was going onto the field. Morton started warming up into the net and then had to ask how far behind the line of scrimmage he was supposed to stand. He was told 15 yards. From there, the instructions were basically to catch the snap and kick it.

That’s about as close to an emergency assignment as you’re going to find in the NFL. Morton wasn’t some backup punter who had spent the week getting occasional practice reps. He was a rookie quarterback fighting for a job who suddenly needed a quick refresher course on the mechanics of punting before walking onto an NFL field and doing it for real.

His first punt went 48 yards.

Not bad for a quarterback who had just needed someone to remind him where to stand.

Morton later admitted that the rush caught him a little off guard because, as he put it, players didn’t exactly rush that fast when he was punting in high school. He adjusted just fine. Morton eventually punted three times for 133 yards, averaging 44.3 yards per attempt, with punts of 48, 43 and 42 yards.

For comparison, nobody would have batted an eye at those numbers if they had come from an actual NFL punter.

Then He Went Back to Playing Quarterback

Here’s where the story gets even better. Morton didn’t spend the entire night as New England’s emergency specialist. He still had his actual job to do.

The Patriots inserted Morton at quarterback in the second half, meaning there were possessions where he would run the offense and then, if New England failed to convert, simply stay on the field and punt the football away. At one point Morton took a seven-yard sack on third down and then remained on the field to boot a 42-yard punt on fourth down.

There’s something wonderfully old-school about that. We occasionally hear stories about players from decades ago handling several different responsibilities because NFL rosters weren’t as specialized as they are today. Morton briefly turned a 2026 preseason game into something from another era.

He was pretty good at his normal position, too.

Morton completed 13 of 17 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown, finishing with a 117.0 passer rating. With New England trailing Philadelphia late in the fourth quarter, he then led the Patriots on the game-winning drive and connected with rookie receiver Nick DeGennaro for a beautiful 37-yard touchdown with 57 seconds remaining. New England won 24-21.

So Morton’s final evening essentially consisted of coming off the bench, unexpectedly becoming an NFL punter, averaging more than 44 yards per kick, returning to quarterback, completing 76 percent of his passes and throwing the game-winning touchdown.

That’s a pretty productive Saturday night.

“The More You Can Do”

NFL preseason games are ultimately about opportunity, particularly for someone in Morton’s position. He wasn’t a first-round quarterback whose roster spot was guaranteed before he ever arrived at training camp. New England selected him 234th overall in the seventh round, which meant every practice rep and preseason snap represented another chance to convince the Patriots that he was worth developing.

Nobody would suggest that Morton was going to make an NFL roster because he could serve as an emergency punter. The Patriots drafted him to play quarterback, and his development there will determine what kind of professional career he ultimately has. But when you’re a late-round rookie trying to stick around, demonstrating that you can handle an unexpected assignment without panicking certainly doesn’t hurt.

More than anything, I think Morton’s response to the situation says something about him. He could have been uncomfortable with the idea. He could have worried about embarrassing himself or hurting his chances of making the roster by doing something he hadn’t done competitively in years. Instead, his attitude was essentially: If you need me to punt, I’ll punt.

Then he went out and did it surprisingly well.

“Tonight was fun,” Morton said afterward. “I wasn’t expecting to punt. It’s been since high school since I’ve punted, so you just got to make the most of your opportunity when it comes.”

That’s probably the perfect way to describe the entire night.

A Fun Story That Became More Important

There’s also an interesting footnote now that the preseason is over. Baringer’s issue turned out to be more significant than simply not feeling well that night. The Patriots eventually placed their regular punter on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss at least the first four games of the regular season. New England has since brought in veteran punting help rather than asking Morton to pull double duty once the games count, which is probably a wise decision.

Morton, meanwhile, survived final cuts and remains on New England’s active roster. The Patriots obviously aren’t keeping him around because of three preseason punts, but the entire performance against Philadelphia gave them a pretty good snapshot of what a developmental player can offer. When something completely unexpected happened, Morton adapted. When it was finally time for him to play quarterback, he produced there as well.

That’s why I wanted to revisit this story as we transition from the preseason into meaningful football. Once the regular season begins, these quirky August moments are quickly forgotten amid playoff races, fantasy football, injuries and everything else that dominates the NFL conversation. But every preseason gives us a handful of stories that deserve to live a little longer, and a seventh-round rookie quarterback having to ask where to stand before casually averaging 44.3 yards per punt certainly qualifies.

Behren Morton may never punt another football in an NFL game. If everything goes according to plan for New England, he probably won’t have to.

But if Mike Vrabel ever finds himself in another special-teams emergency, at least he knows there’s a quarterback standing on his sideline who can do a little more than throw the football.

After all, the more you can do.