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AIPROPX ReportYahoo Sports · 1h ago
Mack Hollins embracing fierce competition in Patriots’ wide receiver room
Jun 9, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins (13) waits his turn to do a drill at minicamp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Mack Hollins lives for competition. That’s why training camp is his favorite time of the year.
“We’re ball players. You got to love being out here,” Hollins said after the team’s training camp practice on Sunday . “This is my favorite time of the year because you’re competing and everybody’s competing at the highest level to earn a job. Not that guys aren’t competing during the season, but practice can be separated into different things and becomes looks for the next team you’re playing against, but training camp is like everybody’s bringing their best and we’re both lining up to win.
“So, I love it. I love the schedule. I love wall-to-wall ball. I love staying in a hotel. I don’t know. I guess that’s just me.”
The competition is especially fierce inside his wide receiver room this year. A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs were added to the top of the depth chart, while Hollins joins Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams, and Efton Chism III in competing for snaps behind them.
For Hollins, the talent around him is simply more motivation.
“I think it’s the iron sharpens iron kind of mentality,” Hollins said. “You get a lot of great guys in one room. All you can do is get better, or you get left behind. And I think what I’ve seen so far — it’s been two days, plus OTAs — but really two days is this room just is like, ‘all right, cool. We’re all just gonna get better then. We’re gonna find out who’s the best.’ Everybody might have an idea of who should be here, who should be here, but we’re all, ‘hey, it’s all a clean slate. You got to earn your spot.’”
In his first season with the Patriots, Hollins led all New England wide receivers playing 68% of the offensive snaps. His 46 receptions and 550 yards were his highest totals since 2022, when he first played under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas.
Now entering Year 10 and his second season in New England, Hollins has tried to turn back the clock in order to make sure he is the one who does not get left behind.
“I think I’ve actually kind of gone back to what I used to be,” Hollins said. “I think it’s easy to get comfortable in how camp is. It’s easy, like, you’ve been doing it a long time, just stay with the flow. And I’ve tried to go back to being young and being just so hungry to learn stuff, acting like I’ve never seen this offense before, lifting hard, running hard, chasing down plays, doing more work than anybody after practice, like doing all those things, because you got to remember to go back to chopping wood.
“It’s easy to just be like, ‘I’m good.’ Like these guys, I already know the offense. I’ve been with Josh for a culmination of probably four years altogether in my career, five years. So going back to what I originally was and what got me here.”
So far, the approach has worked for the 32-year-old, as Hollins feels he has another 10 years in him.
“Yeah, I’m halfway there. I got 10 more in me,” Hollins said. “So if they can stop me, then maybe I’ll stop early. But they haven’t stopped me.”
Mack HollinsPatriotsHollinsNew EnglandJunFoxboroughUSANew England PatriotsGillette StadiumThat’sWe’reNot
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