Mohamed Sanu Came To Patriots With Ringing Endorsement From Steve Belichick

FOXBORO, Mass. — It’s amazing it took so long for Mohamed Sanu to find his way onto the New England Patriots.

The Patriots traded a second-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for Sanu last week. Sanu has been on the Patriots’ radar since his days at Rutgers, where he was teammates with Patriots secondary and safeties coach Steve Belichick. Many of Sanu’s former Rutgers teammates have played for the Patriots over the years, including Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon and Logan Ryan.

Belichick has pushed for the Patriots to acquire Sanu for a while.

“Yeah, he’s had that recommendation for like six years,” Belichick said. “Mo’s my guy. We played together at Rutgers. He’s always had my recommendation. We just finally got him here.”

Belichick recalled his first impression of Sanu back from their time with the Scarlet Knights.

“I just remember him being an incredible athlete doing everything that we needed him to do in college,” Belichick said. “He was the wildcat quarterback. He was a quarterback back in high school. He came into Rutgers as a safety. He was a really unique player, does a lot of things really well and happy to have him on the team.”

Sanu caught two passes for 23 yards in his Patriots debut Sunday in a win over the Cleveland Browns.