While legendary TE Rob Gronkowski's Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony was wrapping up, New England made a series of roster moves ahead of Sunday's showdown vs. the Packers.

On Saturday, the Patriots activated WR Mack Hollins to the active roster from injured reserve. Hollins is now expected to suit up vs. the Packers on Sunday. Hollins takes the open spot on the Patriots 53-man roster, a big boost for an offense that's down WR A.J. Brown (ankle/knee), WR Romeo Doubs (shoulder, IR), RB TreVeyon Henderson (illness), and starting guards Alijah Vera-Tucker (hamstring, IR) and Mike Onwenu (ankle, IR).

The Patriots didn't activate OL Greg Van Roten (hamstring), with the team having until Nov. 25 to put Van Roten on the active roster. With only two players on the active roster ruled out, Brown and Henderson, New England also didn't elevate any players from the practice squad this week.

Hollins returns to the active roster after a four-game absence following a calf injury in the second half of a Week 4 win over the Bills. Luckily, his calf injury wasn't more severe, but the team placed Hollins on injured reserve to ensure it didn't worsen if the veteran wideout had played through it. Oftentimes, calf injuries are a precursor to Achilles injuries. Although we're speculating that those things are connected in Hollins's case, it's possible the Patriots didn't want to risk a more severe injury.

In the first four weeks, Hollins was leading the Patriots in receptions (15) and receiving yards (209) as one of QB Drake Maye's most reliable targets. Along with adding value as a run blocker, the 6-foot-4 Hollins has a large catch radius and is willing to work the intermediate middle of the field, which seems to make Maye comfortable throwing to Hollins downfield. Hollins's most targeted routes were in-breakers, with 18.8% of his targets coming on dig routes, where he has a knack for finding voids between the numbers.

With Hollins back in the mix, the Patriots now have four wideouts available for Sunday's game vs. the Packers: DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams, Efton Chism III, and Hollins. Assuming he plays his usual workload, Hollins will likely elevate to the top 'X' receiver role while still doing some of the dirty work in the run game. The veteran wideout's return could let the Patriots give Chism and Williams more slot reps.

Due to the Patriots being shorthanded at outside receiver, Chism, who profiles as more of a chain-moving slot receiver, has played more snaps out wide (152) than inside (66) this season. Williams has also had limited opportunities in the slot. In his first two seasons, Williams has run 89.2% of his routes from out wide while running vertical routes 58% of the time. Williams's ability to release vs. press-man is a great attribute, but more free releases from inside the slot could get him into favorable foot races downfield.

For example, the Patriots got Williams a slot route on his 43-yard touchdown catch against the Dolphins last week. By shifting Douglas outside before the snap, Williams became the inside receiver and ran a deep post route on Miami S Michael Taaffe. We've seen Williams create big plays while running slot routes in a limited sample size before, so maybe having Hollins back to have another receiver who can run routes on the outside will help diversify William's route tree.

The Patriots offense is in better shape health-wise with Hollins back in the lineup. With the team deciding to keep Van Roten on injured reserve, New England will likely start the same five it ended the game with in Miami last week: LT Will Campbell, LG Ben Brown, C Jared Wilson, RG Matt Pryor, and RT Morgan Moses. The team also has improved depth at offensive tackle after activating second-year OT Marcus Bryant from injured reserve earlier this week.

It'll be interesting to see which backup offensive linemen the Patriots have active on game-day. New England typically utilizes the free game-day roster spot by having eight offensive linemen active. With the projected starting five above, that leaves three game-day roles for top swing tackle Caleb Lomu, G Walter Rouse, rookie OT Dametrious Crownover, and Bryant. Lomu and Rouse will likely be active as top backups, leaving a decision between Bryant and Crownover as the fourth tackle on the game-day roster.

During pre-game on Sunday, the Patriots will need to declare three more players inactive with a now-full 53-man roster and two players ruled out (Brown, Henderson). Rookie QB Behren Morton will be the emergency third quarterback, leaving just two additional inactives. With the team listing seven players as questionable, the attention now turns to the availability of top TE Hunter Henry (foot), who missed the first two practices this week before returning in a limited capacity on Friday.

The Patriots host the Packers with kickoff at 4:25 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer