Mohamed Sanu and Josh Gordon Practicing Together is Bourbon for My Soul

The walk through portion of the Patriots practice today. That short window of opportunity where the press is allowed to see the players for less time than you get to view one of the displays at the “Pirates of the Carribean” ride before the boat sails you past it. And in that time, the Patriots let them see Mohamed Sanu and Josh Gordon together. As well as a return of the Prodigal Son, Michael Bennett, playing nice with others after his week in the Time Out Chair.

And not just any Josh Gordon. Josh Gordon healthy. Without any braces or bandages on his leg. Moving well, as far as we can tell. And all smiles. Ear to ear, baby.

Remember how just a couple of weeks ago, when Gordon hobbled off the field after making that tackle after a fumble? And how the Pats had to spend the entire second half of a game with an offensive skill position group of Julian Edelman, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, Ryan Izzo, James White and the running backs? And how even the most faithful, devout, uber-confident person among us was looking at a future of that and wondering if maybe they still had Antonio Brown’s contact info? That was two weeks ago. And here’s your wide receiver depth chart now:

–Edelman
–Gordon
–Sanu
–Phillip Dorsett with a healthy hamstring
–Meyers
–N’Keal Harry (eligible to play Week 9)
–Olszewski

With Ben Watson at tight end. Is it the best WR grouping in the league? No one is arguing that. But it’s suddenly got depth. With the best slot receiver in the game. One of the most athletically gifted wideouts of his generation. A solid, durable, physical route-runner who’s great at gaining separation (3.7 per route, 11th best in the league, according to NFL Next Gen Stats). A fourth option who can make tough catches on the sideline or beat you deep (like he did Monday night), and three rookies. One of whom has caught nine passes on nine targets the last two games and another who’s a 1st round talent.

What a year this position has had already, and we’re not even halfway through. They’ve gone from paper thin to loaded to rolling paper thin to pretty damned good, just since midsummer. And right now, at this particular moment, they seem at least as good as most of your recent Super Bowl winners. And that’s all any of us should care about.

And assuming both Sanu and Gordon dress Sunday, they’ll be facing the Browns defense, which has the 8th worst Passer Rating against. And according to Pro Football Focus is 26th in the NFL in coverage.

Now we just wait for Sanu to be the 74th guy to catch a touchdown pass from Tom Brady, breaking the record of 73 different receivers, currently held by Tom Brady. Let’s go.