FOXBORO, Mass. — New Patriots wide receiver Mohamed Sanu couldn’t have been traded to a more friendly environment than New England.
Two of Sanu’s new teammates are also former teammates. Sanu played at Rutgers with Patriots safeties Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon.
McCourty knows Sanu well and already was joking with the wide receiver in the Patriots locker room Wednesday. McCourty described Sanu as a hard worker. He also explained what he likes about the 6-foot-2, 210-pound wideout’s game.
“I love him because he’s always been tough,” McCourty said. “He’s been a really good receiver in the NFL, but I always say he came to Rutgers as a safety. I was a corner. I was excited. You get a big kid that can run and hit, I think he’s taken that to the offensive side, physical guy. Each time we played him, we talked about him being a bigger guy that can line up in the slot, line up outside. I’m excited just to see him go. It’s not often you get guys — I guess for me it’s happened quite a bit with my brother and now Sanu — guys you actually follow and keep up with. It’s a fun time just to have that personal relationship.”
Sanu also comes with some versatility. He has a perfect passer rating on eight career attempts with four touchdowns. On top of 377 career receptions, he also has 40 carries for 215 yards with two touchdowns.
“I think the one cool thing is that he’s still throwing the ball, so I guess that’s not great stuff to write about,” McCourty said. “In college, he was doing all of that crazy stuff, kicking field goals and throwing the ball, so I guess it’s not true growth, but I think his QBR is pretty high, so I’m happy to see he’s still able to do that.”
McCourty was asked who’s a better passer between Sanu and Patriots wide receiver — and former college quarterback — Julian Edelman.
“Sanu, because he went to Rutgers,” McCourty quipped.
Edelman has a 118.7 passer rating in the regular season and a 135.4 passer rating in the playoffs.
McCourty is a good guy to know in the Patriots locker room. McCourty said he, twin brother Jason McCourty and Harmon could help Sanu acclimate with the logistics of where to live and everything else that goes into being a football player that occurs off of the field. As defensive players, they probably won’t help him learn the offensive playbook, however.
