The New England Patriots are banged up at wide receiver and were forced to sign Devin Lucien and Paul Turner in recent days to compensate. Kenny Britt, Malcolm Mitchell, and Cody Hollister all projected to participate as outside receivers in varying capacities- the first two as potential starters, the third as a practice squad candidate- and all have been unavailable.

Britt has been battling a hamstring injury, Mitchell is trying to overcome his extensive history of knee injuries, and we finally have an update on why Hollister was placed on the non-football injury list and subsequently waived.

Per NESN’s Zack Cox, “Hollister, who is on the NFI list after being waived/injured, will undergo back surgery, according to his brother Jacob.”

”He’s a warrior,” tight end Jacob Hollister told Cox. “I expect him to be back on the field next year for sure.”

As for Britt and Mitchell, we have updates on their injuries, too.

Per the Herald’s Kevin Duffy, the “Patriots kept Kenny Britt inside today so he could focus on treatment of hamstring, per source. Team hoping to have him back out on the field within next few days.”

Hopefully Britt will be healthy enough to take to the field and won’t miss too much practice time. He projects to be a huge part of the Patriots offense, especially in the red zone.

Per the Athletic’s Jeff Howe, Mitchell “is progressing, per source. Day by day.”

Meanwhile, Cordarrelle Patterson continues to stand out on offense and looks to be a potential favorite receiver behind Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan, while Phillip Dorsett has also been turning heads, too. Whichever of Britt and Mitchell returns to practice the fastest will have to compete with Jordan Matthews and the others for one of the final receiver spots on the roster.