Hollister Comes Back to Plug Hole at WR

Racey McMath will miss at least the first four games of the 2022 NFL season so franchise officials re-sign a player they cut a day earlier.

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

NASHVILLE – Cody Hollister has pretty much experienced all sides of the NFL’s annual regular-season roster reduction.

This week he got a refresher – in more than one.

General manager Jon Robinson said Wednesday that the veteran wide receiver would be added to the active roster as a replacement for Racey McMath, who will be placed on injured reserve. McMath, one of the Titans’ more prominent players during training camp and the preseason, will miss at least the first four games of the regular season with an undisclosed injury.

The move comes a day after Hollister was among those released in order for Tennessee to get to the 53-man roster limit that took effect Tuesday afternoon. It also maintains the number of wide receivers on the roster (five) as preparation for the Sept. 11 opener against the New York Giants ramps up.

“He’s an extremely dependable guy,” Robinson said. “He’s a smart player. He can play multiple spots on a moment’s notice without a lot of reps throughout the course of the week of practice. He’s been a competitive guy on special teams. … And he’s done a great job blocking.

“So, [he does] all the things for that position.”

This marks just the second time in an NFL career that started in 2017 that Hollister will be on an active roster at the start of a regular season. The first was 2020 when he played in the Titans’ opener at Denver before being released and signed to the practice squad the following week.

Hollister has seven receptions for 58 yards in 10 career appearances. He has spent 27 weeks on the Titans’ practice squad over the past three seasons.

As an undrafted rookie with New England in 2017, he was released at the end of the preseason and spent the entire campaign on the practice squad. Tennessee also released him in the final cuts in 2019. Last season, Hollister was waived-injured after he sustained a serious knee injury during training camp (he was re-signed at mid-season), and in 2018 the Patriots placed him on their Reserve–Non-Football Injury list, where he remained for the entire season.

He had two receptions for 20 yards this preseason.