The New England Patriots, after weeks of injuries upon injuries, are one step closer to getting back a big piece of their offensive puzzle this week.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Patriots plan to have wide receiver Mack Hollins’ 21-day window to return off of injury reserve begin Wednesday. Hollins has been on IR since Week 5 with a calf injury he suffered one week prior against the Buffalo Bills.
Hollins and the Patriots will have three weeks before a decision truly needs to be made on his return to the active roster, but because the team designated him to return, he’s allowed to practice for those three weeks. This is the third of eight IR designations that the Patriots are allowed to use in the regular season, following wide receiver A.J. Brown and offensive tackle Marcus Bryant.
“Potentially, yeah,” head coach Mike Vrabel said Monday about the possibility of both Hollins and fullback Reggie Gilliam returning this week. “Those guys are all working hard. We’ve got a long list of those guys, and I think (head athletic trainer) Jim (Whalen) and his staff, and obviously (director of sports performance) Frank (Piraino) and his staff are trying to do a great job with the return to play. We’ll see here where we come out from the game, where guys can help us and the spots that you have to make to get those guys back.
“So, there’s a lot of moving parts. We’ll try to make sure that the player is ready to return to practice. Then also, if they were to be available for the game, and then make the corresponding moves that would have to occur.”
Hollins was a big part of New England’s offense before he went down with the injury, recording a then-team high 15 receptions for 209 yards in the first four games of the season. He hasn’t played in the last four games, but has been spotted on the team’s road trips to both Chicago in Week 7 and Miami one week later.
The 6-foot-4 receiver has become a really trusted weapon for Drake Maye in this Patriots offense. Though his role in 2025 was limited in scope, after Brown’s Week 1 injury this season, Hollins stepped up into a much bigger role — both as a pass catcher and as a leader for the younger wideouts.
The Patriots have gone through plenty banged-up receivers this season, with Brown dealing with both ankle and knee injuries and Romeo Doubs being placed on IR with a shoulder injury suffered in Week 6. Should Hollins return to the 53-man roster this week for the team’s game against the Green Bay Packers, he’d join Brown, DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III in the wide receiver room. They also have Kyle Dixon, Chandler Brayboy and Ryan Miller on the practice squad.
After a myriad of moves to start the week, including Bryant’s IR activation and the releasing of two defensive backs, the Patriots do have one open spot on their 53-man roster for Hollins to potentially fill. We will see if he ends up claiming that opening.
There are also several other players who are eligible to return from their stints on IR, including safety Dell Pettus (ankle), offensive guard Greg Van Roten (thigh), edge rusher Quintayvious Hutchins (knee) and linebacker Khalil Jacobs (undisclosed).
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