FOXBORO — There were times last season when the Patriots’ young wide receivers could have used some tough love.
It sounds like veteran [wide receiver free-agent pickup](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/03/10/source-patriots-sign-free-agent-wide-receiver-mack-hollins-to-two-year-deal/) Mack Hollins could provide that this season for a group that includes Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte.
Hollins, 31, believes he can provide “a lot” of leadership for a group that was lacking in that department last season.
“I think what I’ve learned in my time in this league is that every room is different, every guy is different. But that’s also helped me learn how to adjust with different guys — this guy likes this way of conversation, or likes to get pushed in this way, or likes to practice this way or recover this way. But then also being able to bring the things that I’ve taken from my different teams in my years in the league, and allowing them to, ‘Hey, try the things I do. If you don’t like them, that’s fine, but at least you’re learning what you do like, what you don’t like, and what can help you play a long time and play at a high level.”
The Patriots signed Hollins to a two-year, $8 million contract this offseason, reuniting him with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Hollins’ best career season came in 2022 with the Raiders with McDaniels as his head coach. He caught 57 passes for 690 yards with four touchdowns that season.
Hollins said he sometimes pushes his teammates “to a fault.”
“I am a big believer in ‘break it and build it back better,’ but that’s how I was raised,” Hollins said. “So I will push guys to their limits, for sure, but I’ve learned over the years how to not push them too far. I think when I was younger, I would push guys too far. I would, like, relish breaking people. And I’ve kind of learned over the years that that’s not always the best is to push guys. There are some guys that need that in life, need when we’re working out or we’re practicing, like to be in their head the entire time, and they’ll have the best practice ever. And there’s some guys that will shut down for me, but those are things that I’ve learned. But yeah, pushing guys is something I enjoy, because I know not only will it make them better, but it will make me better, because now, if I ever stumble, they’re like, ‘Oh, you talking all that now here you go.’ So it’s kind of a two-way (street).”
Hollins has worked with a number of young wide receivers throughout his multiple stops in the NFL. He entered the league in 2017 as a fourth-round pick with the Eagles and was claimed off waivers by the Dolphins late in the 2019 season. He was with the Dolphins through the 2021 season and believes Jaylen Waddle was a player who benefitted from his leadership but said, “by no means am I responsible for his success in this league.”
Hollins joined the Raiders in 2022 and said he was able to learn from Devante Adams. He spent the 2023 season with the Falcons, who had Drake London, then a second-year pro, on their roster. He shared a wide receiver room with rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman on the Bills last season.
“I think the the game is not transactional, but you take things from guys,” Hollins said. “I’ve taken things from O-lineman, from D-linemen, little things like that that have changed my game, and I hope that guys later in their career, can say, ‘Hey, Mack helped me do X, Y, Z.”
The Patriots got little out of Polk or Baker, both 2024 draft picks, last year. Boutte and Douglas fared better, but as a whole, assistants on staff felt the group showed a [lack of maturity](https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/10/24/patriots-young-wide-receivers-struggling-to-toe-the-line-in-new-regime/) at times — ranging from displays of on-field frustration and comments to the media — during a difficult season.
Hollins will help, but so will having a hard-nosed head coach in Mike Vrabel, and experienced assistants on offense like McDaniels and wide receivers coach Todd Downing.
The wide receiver corps is currently rounded out by Kendrick Bourne, JaQuae Jackson and John Jiles. They could use more help via free agency, trade and the 2025 NFL Draft.