FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – The Patriots’ Dan Klecko is approaching his switch from defensive line to inside linebacker with the same professionalism he showed last year, when the team used him at everything from nose tackle to fullback.

“I’m a professional athlete,” said Klecko, in his second season out of Temple. “I have to come out here and learn it … that’s my job. The biggest thing for me making the team is shutting my mouth and doing what they tell me to do.”

In his rookie year, the son of New York Jets great Joe Klecko played nose tackle, defensive end, outside linebacker and blocking fullback in goal-line situations on offense.

But the search for a permanent position has led the Patriots to inside linebacker, which has required Klecko to shed at least 20 pounds from last year’s playing weight of 280 to 290 pounds.

“I feel pretty good at this weight,” he said. “I’m not dying out there at this weight.”

Being a linebacker requires more concentration: He’s seeing the game from a standing position, rather than from a crouching stance, and he’s also making defensive calls.

“I find that to be a lot of fun,” Klecko said. “Rather than just putting your hand in the dirt and hitting someone, you’re looking at the whole field standing up. It’s not just one guy in front of you.”

Coach Bill Belichick said Klecko has taken to his new position.

“For a guy who has never really played on his feet … he’s adapted well,” Belichick said. “I think that it looks pretty good, all things considered.”

Klecko has turned for advice to others who have made the transition, including fellow Patriot inside linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who set the NCAA Division I-A record for career sacks as a pass-rushing defensive end at Arizona.

“It is hard,” he said. “But I don’t care. I just want to be on the Patriots this year, helping the team win.”

Notes: At the Patriots’ training camp Thursday, Belichick announced the signing of free agent cornerback Earthwind Moreland, a three-year veteran. Moreland was most recently with the Cleveland Browns. He also spent time with Tampa Bay, the New York Jets, New Orleans and Jacksonville. He was signed and released by Montreal of the CFL earlier this year, and spent two summers with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe.

Patriots sign Stubblefield

The New England Patriots have signed free agent defensive lineman and three-time Pro Bowler Dana Stubblefield, the team announced Thursday. Terms of the deal were not announced.

In 11 NFL seasons, Stubblefield has played for San Francisco, Washington and Oakland, winning a Super Bowl with the 49ers in 1994.

In July, he was fined three games’ salary for testing positive for the steroid THG while with Oakland last season.

Stubblefield has appeared before the grand jury investigating a nutritional supplements lab – the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative – which has been at the center of a steroids controversy in several sports.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 290-pound defensive lineman has started 149 NFL games and amassed 428 career tackles, including 53.5 sacks.

Stubblefield, 33, has also recorded 32 pass deflections, two interceptions, nine forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl following the 1994, 1995 and 1997 seasons, and was named The Associated Press NFL defensive player of the year following a career-best 15-sack season in 1997.