Carr, Hollister giving themselves a chance

FOXBOROUGH — The best thing a roster long shot can do in a preseason opener is put himself on the radar. Wide receiver Austin Carr and tight end Jacob Hollister achieved just that at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.

The pair of undrafted free agents were the top two receivers against the Jaguars as the Patriots rested most of their skill position regulars. Hollister led all receivers with seven catches for 116 yards, while Carr pulled in five receptions for 44 yards, including an impressive touchdown grab in the second quarter in the 31-24 defeat.

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Carr’s catch had the locker room talking after the game, but both players caught the eye of Jimmy Garoppolo on a night he didn’t have much to work with from a talent standpoint.

“Austin made a tremendous catch on a touchdown,” he said. “I mean, he really went up and got that one for me. Jacob – you know, savvy player, performed very well. I mean, all those skills guys, just the young guys especially, came out and played well, and we needed them to. We were limited with guys tonight and they did a good job.”

Carr's performance makes for a fun story, but one area of the Patriots roster that appeared to be set in heading into this preseason was wide receiver. With a loaded depth chart that includes Julian Edelman, Brandin Cooks, Malcolm Mitchell, Chris Hogan, and Danny Amendola, there really didn’t seem to be any room (on paper) for another receiver to emerge from the pack and challenge for a spot on the 53-man roster.

Carr did his best to change that presumption and potentially make things interesting for the next few weeks on Thursday night. While the total number of Carr’s receptions might not stick out in the box score, the degree of difficulty on several of them had Gillette Stadium buzzing on the Patriots’ first touchdown drive of the night. Outside of the spectacular end zone grab, Carr made a couple textbook sideline catches, artfully keeping both feet inbounds as he fell to the grass.

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Carr wasn’t the only one making highlight reel plays either. Hollister took several tough hits in traffic against Jaguar defenders in the middle of the field while holding onto receptions, and also added an impressive hurdle over a defender that capped a 19-yard gain at the end of the third quarter.

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"I don't know how that happened,” Hollister said with a laugh when asked about the maneuver. “I mean, I saw him coming. I think it was a corner, so I knew he'd probably go low, so I ended up jumping. Luckily, I made it over him."

On paper, Hollister seems to have a better chance than Carr of sticking around. He has to beat out James O’Shaughnessy and Matt Lengel for the third spot on the tight end depth chart. The Patriots were big fans of Hollister immediately after the draft, giving him $90,000 of guaranteed money when signing him to a rookie free agent deal, the second-highest total among all of the Pats undrafted free agents. The former Wyoming standout could give the Patriots a more capable pass catcher behind Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen and Hollister took advantage of his additional reps to build some trust with his quarterbacks while O’Shaughnessy watched from the sidelines.

“I think that’s one of the most important things, just getting trust from the quarterbacks,” said Hollister. “Trying to make it obvious to those guys that I can make plays and make them feel comfortable throwing to me. I’m just doing what I can for the team and showing all of my teammates I can be trustworthy.”

While the challenge seems manageable for Hollister if he builds on Thursday’s performance, the road will seemingly be much tougher for Carr to climb up the wide receiver depth chart. However, he’s overcome long odds throughout his football career. The 6-foot-1 slot specialist was initially a walk-on at Northwestern before earning a scholarship prior to the 2015 season. He went on to post one of the best individual seasons by a Big 10 receiver in years in 2016, catching 90 passes for 1,247 yards and 12 touchdowns over 12 games, leading the conference in all three of those categories.

Those numbers started to translate on the NFL field against the Jaguars, but the 23-year-old is under no illusions about the hill he still has to climb to beat out Amendola, or convince the Patriots to carry a sixth receiver. Still, he’s appreciative of the atmosphere created by those he’s competing against.

“It's a matter of learning from [the veterans] and keeping my head down and working hard, grinding out,” Carr said when asked about how he can move on from this performance. “I haven't arrived. There's no prize I get right now and we didn't win.”

“It’s a grind day-by-day,” Carr added. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The [veterans] are very selfless. They’re coaching us up on the sidelines. It’s very difficult, obviously, to make it in the NFL, but having the kind of system here and the kind of support in the wide receiver room and with the coaches really sets you up for success.”

Ultimately, the odds remain long for either of the rookies to crack the final 53-man roster. The pair put themselves in the discussion Thursday night though and gave Patriots fans a little bit to get excited about on a night without the stars.