FOXBORO – Patriots veteran wide receiver Mack Hollins only knows one mode.
Whether it’s a random practice in the dog days of training camp, a primetime game on “Sunday Night Football” or in the weight room, Hollins will be the loudest player talking the most trash.
“I think it’s – I grew up with three boys in the house. You always were competing, and sometimes the loudest guy meant he won,” Hollins said. “But I expect the same thing from like, the defense. If they’re whooping our ass, I expect you to talk bad to me, because when I’m up, I’m gonna do the same. Because I think everybody here is a high-level athlete. You competed your whole life. Don’t feel like you can’t be the same athlete and you can’t be aggressive. What got you to this level – just because you’re here, like compete within the rules that doesn’t hurt the team, but compete and have fun with this game. It’s a game at the end of the day. Don’t forget that.”
Fellow Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas said he’s never had a teammate talk as much trash as Hollins, and that the ninth-year veteran is like this “24/7 – lifting, probably sleeping.”
Douglas also said that Hollins, who’s made some highlight toe-tapping touchdown catches in training camp, can back it up.
“Oh man, that brings energy,” Douglas said. “I feel like it’s gonna get in a DB’s head to where they get out of character. But Mack’s gonna keep his composure. Mack is a dawg. I feel like he’s gonna bring that dawg out of the whole (wide receiver) room.”
Hollins said he feels like he has crossed the line before, but only in practice, because “at the end of day, those are your teammates.” In games, the gloves really come off.
“That’s what we work for,” Hollins said. “We work to the competition on Sundays or Mondays or Thursdays. Don’t change what was working for you during the week, just because it’s gameday.”
Patriots tight end Hunter Henry, who’s much more mild-mannered on and off the field, is excited to see Hollins in a game that counts.
“Mack’s great, man,” Henry said. “Obviously, everybody can hear him talking out here, brings a juice and a level that’s very consistent, I think, that you got to respect because he brings it every day. And you got to raise your level to that. And so it’s a lot of fun going out there competing with him.
“I’m excited to see it on an actual game day too, and be able to bring that out of him.”
One veteran Patriots defender was less verbose about Hollins’ practice trash talk exploits.
“I don’t pay Mack no mind,” outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson said smilling.
Hollins, 31, spent the early portion of his career with the Eagles and Dolphins as a core special teamer and a part-time offensive player. That flipped in 2022 when Hollins played under current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on the Raiders, when he started 16 games and had a career-year, catching 57 passes for 690 yards with four touchdowns. Over the past two seasons with the Falcons and Bills, Hollins has started 16 games and caught 49 passes for 629 yards with five touchdowns – all last season in Buffalo.
Hollins signed a two-year, $8.4 million contract with the Patriots this offseason. It includes $3.5 million in fully guaranteed money, so he was a roster lock as soon as he signed. He hasn’t done anything in training camp to lose that status, regularly making plays on the first- and second-team units.
Based on training camp reps, Stefon Diggs and DeMario Douglas will be two of the Patriots’ three starting wide receivers, with the other spot coming down between Hollins and Boutte.
Despite being eight years into his NFL career, Hollins said he’s still trying to become the best version of himself as a player.
“I think the day I stop chasing is the day I hang it up,” Hollins said. “I think that’s when you just have no business playing this game anymore if you don’t want to get better. If you think once you arrive, it’s probably your time to leave. As cliche as that may sound, because you’re not hungry for it anymore. And this is a dangerous game. And if you’re not willing to try to get better every day, and you’re just kind of going through the motions, that’s a good way to leave on a note that you don’t want to leave on.”
Hollins already had one career year under McDaniels, and it appears like he’s developed chemistry with quarterback Drake Maye as a pass-catcher the young QB can count on in contested and gotta-have-it situations.