Morning sports update: Mohamed Sanu’s trainer thinks the receiver was ‘shell of himself’ in 2019 due to injury
"I promise you, that is a huge chip on his shoulder now."
Major League Baseball is officially set to return. On Tuesday, the league announced its return, with a 60-game season set to begin on July 23 or 24.
Mohamed Sanu is reportedly recovering well after offseason ankle surgery: The Patriots traded for wide receiver Mohamed Sanu in October, sending a second-round pick to the Falcons in return.
Sanu, 30, made 26 catches for 207 yards in eight games with the Patriots, also notching a touchdown catch against the Ravens in November 2019.
Yet the 6-foot-2 Sanu was hampered for much of his initial season in New England by a high ankle injury. In the offseason, he had surgery to correct the issue. Now looking at his first full season with the Patriots, Sanu’s trainer believes he could be a much more effective player following his 16-week recovery.
“I would tell you he’s probably faster, quicker, leaner, and in better shape now than prior to the surgery,” Hilton Alexander told ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
Alexander maintains that Sanu was a “shell of himself” at the end of the 2019 season and could be in line for a strong 2020.
“I know the fans didn’t get a chance to see 100 percent Mohamed Sanu,” Alexander said. “I promise you, that is a huge chip on his shoulder now.”
Trivia: Six Red Sox pitchers have recorded at least 40 saves in a single season. Can you name them?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: Their initials are TG, JP, JR, UU, DL, and CK
More from Boston.com:
- No charges in NASCAR noose incident involving Bubba Wallace
- Tom Brady is still working out with his Bucs teammates, despite recommendations not to
- David Ortiz in legal, financial dispute with mother of one of his children
- Christian Arcand is not getting bounced from Sports Hub’s weeknight program after all
- NFL holds minority coaching summit, as it continues to grapple with hiring issues
- Judge denies American women’s soccer immediate appeal
- Baseball’s back: MLB sets 60-game schedule, opens July 23 or 24
- Sports Q: Which current Patriots players will make the team’s Hall of Fame someday?
- Isaiah Thomas responded on Twitter to a call for the Celtics to bring him back
Adrian Wojnarowski broke down a series of NBA stories, including the possible return of J.R. Smith
:
Avery Bradley. Nikola Jokic. JR Smith. Nowhere else to end the day but with @NotthefakeSVP. pic.twitter.com/vD13P46Auw
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2020
The story of Jeff Thomas: Signed as one of the Patriots’ undrafted free agents, wide receiver Jeff Thomas has a backstory that NFL analysts and scouts applied the oft-used label of “talented but troubled.” The reality is far more complicated, as For the Win’s Henry McKenna explored in a recent profile.
“I feel like a lot of people, just from hearing his background, look at him wrong,” said Lamontre Harvey, one of Thomas’s high school friends. “A lot of people doubted [him], but since kindergarten, we always said that he’d make it to the pros. But they get the wrong impression. They’re like, ‘Oh, he comes from East St. Louis. Well, he’s not going to make it too far.'”
On this day: In 1997, the hypothetical question of what would happen if Mark McGwire connected with a Randy Johnson fastball was answered at Seattle’s Kingdome. The result was a 538-foot home run into the upper deck.
Daily highlight: After overcoming an early injury in 2020 and then the season pause, Tottenham forward Harry Kane scored his first goal of the year in a 2-0 win over West Ham United on Tuesday.
The wait is over! Harry Kane has found the back of the net for the first time in 2020, and what a way to get it done. #MyPLSummer pic.twitter.com/I4dvn2VCRA
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 23, 2020
Trivia answer: Tom Gordon, Jonathan Papelbon, Jeff Reardon, Ugueth Urbina, Derek Lowe, and Craig Kimbrel.
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