BOSTON (AP) – Rookie tight end Benjamin Watson has already learned from his new quarterback, two-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady.

In the six weeks since the Patriots drafted Watson in the first round, he has listened to Brady and caught passes from him. Next up: Watson’s first minicamp with Brady and the other New England players.

“He looks out for me,” Watson said Friday. “He speaks to me and he speaks to all the rookies. He’s a Super Bowl quarterback, but he doesn’t act like one. He doesn’t have that air about him.”

The three-day minicamp starts next Thursday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., after a passing camp the previous three days.

At unofficial workouts this spring, Brady has worked hard despite his past success. That lesson is not lost on Watson, who quickly realized the differences between playing college football at Georgia and preparing for NFL competition.

“He’s always thinking about football,” Watson said. “This is another step from college. You’re here all the time. This is what you spend your life doing. This is what you’ve prepared for.”

At Georgia, he played one season behind Randy McMichael, now the tight end for the Miami Dolphins. The two remain close, and McMichael was at Watson’s house the first day of the draft.

It is more complex than college football, and Watson has been so focused on making the transition that he hasn’t dwelled on being on a team that has two championships.

“I don’t think about it much because it wasn’t me who won them,” he said.

Watson caught eight passes for Duke in 1999, then transferred to Georgia where, he caught 65 passes for six touchdowns in 37 games but was hampered by an ankle injury last season. He went to Duke for its strong academic program but wanted a more competitive football team.

At 6-foot-3 and 253 pounds, Watson is a strong blocker, has good hands and ran a 4.44-second 40-yard dash, the fastest of any tight end in the draft, for pro scouts.

The Patriots took him with the last pick of the first round, 32nd overall, on April 24.

Since then, he’s spent most of his time in Foxboro. He works out, studies the team’s offensive system and attends club meetings. His work day often starts at 8 a.m. and sometimes runs until 9 p.m.

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

Hard work is nothing new to him. When he played at Northwestern High in Rock Hill, S.C., he would go through team and individual workouts then jump rope in his driveway at 11 p.m., said Jimmy Wallace, heading into his 33rd year as football coach there.

“He was the hardest working kid in the strength and conditioning program I’ve ever seen,” Wallace said. “I’ve never heard a negative comment made about him.”

Now the Patriots tight end job is shared by Daniel Graham and Christian Fauria. Graham had 38 catches last season and Fauria added 28. But the selection of Watson just two years after New England took Graham in the first round was surprising.

Might the Patriots be dissatisfied with Graham, who often dropped passes to him? Might they groom Watson to take over soon?

“Right now I can’t compete with him and Christian Fauria,” Watson said. “I’m still learning.”