The New England Patriots have stayed positive about the state of the offense. But there’s no escaping the obvious: Over the last four weeks, they’ve regressed while averaging 18 points per game.
It’s becoming clear that they need production in the passing game beyond receiver Julian Edelman and running back James White. Tom Brady has needed help. And there’s one skill player who seems to have fallen out of the public eye: receiver Mohamed Sanu. New England traded a second-round pick for him before the deadline this year, and he quickly looked comfortable in New England’s offense in the Week 9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens when he had 10 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.
An ankle injury set him back in recent weeks. He was inactive in Week 12 and was clearly on a limited snap count for Week 13. But perhaps New England can expect more from him as he gets healthier and learns more of the Patriots offense.
“It’s more every week, so each week there’s building blocks, and you can add some things or repeat things from previous weeks to improve the execution on them and communication,” Bill Belichick said of Sanu on Friday morning during a press conference at Gillette Stadium. “We’ve made a lot of progress. Definitely headed in the right direction. We’re definitely not there yet either, but we’re gaining ground.”
Sanu’s teammates, particularly the ones who have known him from his days at Rutgers, have touted his athleticism. He was a safety to start his college career, and cornerback Jason McCourty suggested Sanu might have gone in the first round of the NFL draft, had he stayed at the position. But Sanu switched to receiver, and went in the third round of the 2012 draft. His elite athleticism has always made him a compelling slot option, whether with the Cincinnati Bengals, the Atlanta Falcons or the Patriots. But his smarts have been noteworthy as he takes a bigger role in New England.
“He’s been in a couple different systems from what we run, so there’s some carryover, there’s a lot of new things, too,” Belichick said. “He’s a smart kid. He’s experienced. He’s played a lot of football, so a lot of the concepts he’s dealt with before. Terminology and nomenclature. The way it’s presented might be a little bit different.”
There’s a sense of doom and gloom in New England after it suffered a tough loss to the Houston Texans last week. There’s no denying the offense looked unimpressive. But Brady, Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels have made a habit of turning a disaster zone into a disaster for zone (and man) defenses. If the Patriots are going to put together a turnaround — which is something they seem to do every year — then Sanu could be central in that resurgence.
