FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Someone should remind Rodney Harrison not to smack around the Patriots anymore.

The safety signed with New England on March 12 after being released by San Diego. In just his second practice of training camp, he belted the Patriots best wide receiver, Troy Brown.

“Who would hit Troy Brown coming across the middle in the eye?” Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. “The first practice, too. To hit Troy right in the face like that is the type of guy he is.”

So is Lawyer Milloy, the four-time Pro Bowl safety who starts alongside Harrison, giving receivers plenty to worry about when they go up for passes.

“In terms of resumes, you could put Rodney and Lawyer up there, probably with anybody,” coach Bill Belichick said.

He’s holding off making comparisons of the two players’ styles until he sees how Harrison, a Pro Bowl player in 1998 and 2001, adapts to the team’s complex defensive system.

“It’s very complicated compared to what I’m used to,” Harrison said. “You have to really start studying and dedicate yourself and it’s just a matter of putting extra time in and being a professional.”

Harrison’s polite, soft-spoken nature belies the ferocity with which he’s played the game for nine NFL seasons, all with San Diego, and in Thursday’s practice when he belted Brown.

He was the Chargers’ second leading tackler last year despite missing three games with injuries. He led the team in that category for each of the previous two seasons.

In his first game last season, his aggressiveness produced eight tackles in a 21-14 win over the Patriots in San Diego.

“You can never have enough attitude guys,” Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson said. “Sometimes you think there’s a shift in the game, it’s not as physical, it’s more schematic.

“But Rodney’s kind of an old-school mentality. So I like that. I just like his style so I think he’ll work well in conjunction with Lawyer there.”

Milloy started all 16 games at strong safety last season. This year, he and Harrison, also a strong safety, are both starters, designated as left and right safeties.

“I feel more comfortable with him,” Harrison said. “I know he definitely feels more comfortable with me. It’s just a matter of spending time together.”

For the first time, Harrison will play twice a year against AFC East opponents Miami, Buffalo and the New York Jets rather than Oakland, Denver and Kansas City of the AFC West.

That’s only a mild concern to the 30-year-old safety who was San Diego’s defensive player of the year four times, as voted by his teammates.

“I’ve played against every team in this division. I pretty much know the players,” Harrison said. “It becomes a challenge because you’re dealing with different receivers, different running backs, but I think that’s the exciting part about it.”

He got a break by joining the Patriots in their first training camp at Gillette Stadium, which opened last season. They spent the previous 27 summers at Bryan College in Smithfield, R.I., where players lived in small dormitory rooms. He left a pretty nice summer site with the Chargers.

“We practiced at the University of California at San Diego,” he said. “It was like a resort, basically. It was right on the ocean, 75 degrees every day. … but this is pleasant.”

AP-ES-07-25-03 1843EDT