FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Big-time football is nothing new to Ty Warren.

Still, the New England Patriots first-round draft pick had the look of a kid in a candy store Thursday after touring of Gillette Stadium with team owner Robert Kraft and his son, vice chairman Jonathan Kraft.

It was apparently enough to convince the 6-foot-4, 307-pound defensive lineman from Texas A&M that he can make the transition to playing football in the chilly Northeast.

“It’s something that I have to adjust to,” Warren said. “As long as I’m moving around, I’ll be fine. They’ve got enough gadgets around here to keep you warm.”

Warren, the 13th overall selection in last weekend’s NFL Draft, said he’s ready to start his professional career after talking to former Aggies teammate Rocky Bernard, now a defensive tackle with the Seattle Seahawks.

“He shared some of the things that went on when he went up to Seattle, so those things are kind of vital to me in my transition here to the NFL,” Warren said. “At A&M, practice was live all the time. But he told me that in the league, there’s not as much contact.

“He explained how teams look at you as an investment, so they try their best to take care of you,” he said. “It started to make sense to me then.”

The Patriots hope to use Warren as a nose tackle in a 3-4 alignment, which would enable them to move Pro Bowl tackle Richard Seymour to the outside and maximize his pass-rushing skills.

Warren played nose tackle as a junior at Texas A&M and defensive end as a senior. He said either position is fine with him. “I enjoy it all,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. All those positions in a 3-4 scheme are all interior. It’s just a little quicker at the nose.”

Warren met Seymour and fellow defensive linemen Willie McGinest and Jarvis Green for the first time Thursday.

“I’m just a rookie coming in,” he said. “I don’t know Jack from Jill right now. But what I do plan on doing is coming in and looking for information from those guys in order to help my game.”

The Patriots other nine draft picks were scheduled to join Warren at Gillette Stadium on Friday for the start of a three-day rookie orientation camp.

AP-ES-05-01-03 1744EDT