Mohamed Sanu is confident he’ll make a major impact down the stretch
New England Patriots wide receiver Mohamed Sanu knows he hasn’t yet lived up to fan expectations, but he sounds confident that will change soon.
There’s no denying that Mohamed Sanu has been a bit underwhelming since coming over via trade to the New England Patriots at the end of October.
The team sent a 2020 second-round draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons to acquire Sanu, with the hopes that he could immediately strengthen and diversify a relatively-subpar receiving group for Tom Brady and the Patriots offense.
Especially with Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon both getting released by the team for different reasons – not to mention Rob Gronkowski retiring last March – the hope around Foxborough was that Sanu could step in and fill that No. 2 wide receiver spot behind Julian Edelman.
On paper at least, a receiver corps of Edelman, Sanu, Phillip Dorsett, and 2019 first-round draft pick N’Keal Harry should have provided Brady with more than enough options and weapons to make this offense effective.
Unfortunately, outside of one impressive showing against the Baltimore Ravens (of all teams), Sanu’s impact has been extremely limited as a member of the Patriots. He totaled 10 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown against the Ravens, but he hasn’t had more than three catches or 24 receiving yards in any of the other six games he’s played with New England.
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, however, Sanu himself not only knows he needs to step up his production for the team – he’s also extremely confident that he’ll soon be able to do just that.
“I haven’t really scratched the surface yet of what I know I can do,” Sanu said. “Getting adjusted to things people have known for years, or months, you have to catch up. It’s a lot of little details of things. I’ve been getting right up to speed. It’s just little things you can’t teach; they just have to be done. It’s the difference between knowing and doing.”
Sanu wanted to make it clear that he’s not making excuses for any of his mental mistakes with the team. He knows that he’s dropped some passes that he shouldn’t have, that some of the routes he’s run haven’t been perfect, and that his relationship and trust level with Brady is still evolving and a work in progress.
That all being said, he sure sounds like he thinks he’s on the cusp of taking that next step and “leveling up,” so to speak, within the New England offense. When Reiss asked Sanu just how “hungry” he is to make a greater impact on the team, he didn’t hold back.
"“You have no idea. It’s not something you can explain. You put a lot of work into something, a lot of time, a lot of sacrifices, and the time you put in, you want the same result from it.”"
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Sunday’s regular season finale against the Miami Dolphins seems like the perfect opportunity for Mohamed Sanu to gain some confidence heading into the postseason. The Dolphins have one of the worst defenses in the league, so it stands to reason that the former Falcon could have a big game against Miami as the Patriots offense continues to find its stride before the playoffs.