FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Benjamin Watson spent his 18-day holdout trying to remember plays while his New England Patriots teammates were busy practicing them.

On Monday, just 24 days before the regular-season opener, the first-round draft pick signed a six-year contract with the Super Bowl champions and ran a few plays from his tight end position. He just didn’t catch any passes.

“I’ve got to learn the plays before I can worry about getting passes,” he said Monday.

His performance in practice this week will determine if he plays Saturday night at Cincinnati in New England’s second exhibition game. It didn’t help that team security policies prevented him from taking home his playbook from the team’s minicamp in June.

“I’m not starting from square one,” Watson said, “but I’m still behind.”

The signing of Watson, the 32nd and last pick of the first round, leaves quarterback Philip Rivers as the only unsigned first-rounder. Rivers was obtained by San Diego in a draft-day deal with the New York Giants for Eli Manning.

Watson’s former agent, Tom Condon, was pushing for a five-year contract. The Patriots insisted on six years and Watson switched to agent Pat Dye Jr., who reached an agreement with the team during the weekend.

“Both guys are good agents,” Watson said. “I just felt that it was just my time to come back.”

The negotiations were conducted quietly with few public comments from the agents or the team.

“It’ll still be quiet because I really don’t have anything to say about it,” coach Bill Belichick said with a smile.

Watson, known as a good receiver, had 65 catches for 852 yards and six touchdowns in three years at Georgia after catching eight passes for 93 yards and a touchdown in one season at Duke.

The Patriots already have two solid tight ends, nine-year veteran Christian Fauria and 2002 first-round pick Daniel Graham. But they frequently use a two tight-end formation and need three in case one gets hurt.

“Anytime you’re out (of action), there’s a lot to learn in the NFL and so I’m behind,” Watson said.

It will take a lot of work for him to play a big role in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts in Foxboro on Sept. 9.

“I’m going to try my best to make it up,” he said. “I know the coaching staff is going to try their best to put me in a position to where I can learn everything.”

After being drafted on April 24, he spent much of his time in Foxboro through the three-day minicamp that ended June 12. He worked out, caught passes from Tom Brady, studied the offensive system and attended team meetings.

“We’re over here all day long,” Watson said a week before that minicamp. “The first thing they told us is that it’s a job, and it definitely is.”

That became more evident to him during the negotiations, and he’s sorry he missed 18 days of camp in which he could have formed bonds with teammates.

“There’s no sense of embarrassment” in reporting late, Watson said. “The one thing I learned is that it’s a business and everybody here treats it as such.”

But now he has a contract and must focus on football.

“Everybody’s 20 practices ahead of him just in training camp,” Belichick said. “On top of that, he’s a rookie so all rookies have a big mountain to climb. So I’d say he’s got quite a ways to go.”