Former Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo, right, takes part in a drill during a conditioning workout for the Volunteers last summer. He’ll be working out for the Patriots from now on.

AP / Amy Smotherman-Burgess

FOXBORO — The Pats want Mayo!

But hold the headlines!

Drafting 10th in the first round, after swapping picks with the Saints, the Patriots yesterday selected Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo, who has both versatility and personality in abundance.

Hopefully, Pats fans will see plenty of the former this fall. They’re not likely to see much of the latter.

That’s because rookies — even first-round draft picks –– are discouraged from talking with the media.

Which, in Mayo’s case, is too bad. Because, if yesterday’s phone conversation with the New England press corps is any indication, he’s a young man with a sense of humor, as well as a highly developed sense of how to play the game of football.

“Let me ask you guys a question,” Mayo said, after pleasantly answering a variety of inquiries relating to his selection as the first linebacker taken prior to the sixth round in the eight years Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli have been picking players in New England.

“What headlines am I going to get up there because Mayo is my last name? I’ve heard a lot of them. ‘Hold that Mayo’ is always number one. That’s kind of gotten played out.”

When he didn’t get a quick reply, Mayo laughed, and said: “Everybody’s real quiet now.”

A 6-foot-1, 242–pounder with speed, intelligence and play-making ability, Mayo could wind up making some noise in New England, which is sorely in need of an infusion of youth in its aged linebacking corps.

It was Mayo’s ability to play both inside and outside that particularly intrigued Belichick.

“He’s a pretty versatile player,” said the coach. “He’s played all three linebacking positions — ‘Will,’ ‘Mike,’ and ‘Sam.’ ”

For those not up on their football jargon, that would be weak side, middle linebacker, and strong side. Playing the weak side as a sophomore in 2006, Mayo had five sacks and 12½ tackles for loss. Moved to the middle by the Vols last season, he responded with a team-high 140 tackles and also intercepted a pass that he returned for a touchdown.

“He’s a physical player who’s played against high-level competition,” Belichick said. “He’s a smart kid who runs well. He understands schemes and concepts. He has a lot to offer.”

Mayo is smart enough to know that he has a lot to learn.

“I’m going to be sponge,” he said, repeating that phrase several times during the course of the interview.

“I want to come in and learn from the great guys they have — Pro Bowlers like Tedy Bruschi; Hall of Famers like Junior Seau. Those guys are proven winners. They’re always making plays. I’m going to take in as much as possible.”

It was a pleasant surprise to Mayo, not only to be taken by New England, but also to be selected among the top 10.

“I was hoping for the best,” he said, “but expecting the worst. I was hoping to go somewhere in the first round, but I didn’t know where.”

Mayo said he had visits with 11 teams, not all of which he could recall.

“Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas — did I say Atlanta? — the Jets,” he said. “I don’t know. It’s somewhere on the Internet, I promise.”

Mayo was sitting on the porch of his mother’s house in Hampton, Va., when the call came from the Patriots late yesterday afternoon.

“I had been out in the backyard, picking up leaves with my Mom,” he said. “But, after one bag, I couldn’t do it anymore.”

He wasn’t tired. He was anxious. And, when he learned he had been chosen by the defending AFC champions, Mayo said he was “overwhelmed.”

“It was definitely a surprise,” he said, excitement evident in his voice. “It’s like a dream come true. You don’t expect a team that had only one loss to have a top-10 pick.

“I had a great visit with them. I talked football with the coaches for a long time. I felt like something ‘clicked.’

“None of the other visits I made during this whole process had the feel of a winning atmosphere like I felt with the Patriots. I’m ready to get to New England and play for a great coach, a great team. I’m happy to be going there.”

Patriots fans should be happy to get him.

The New England linebackers are highly versatile, but they’re also venerable. Mike Vrabel is coming off a season in which he went to his first Pro Bowl and had a career-high 12½ sacks, but he’ll be 33 in July. That makes him two years younger than Bruschi. Seau, who has yet to say whether he’ll return for what would be his 19th NFL season, turned 39 in January. Adalius Thomas, highly sought after a year ago as a free agent, will be 31 in August.

Adding some young legs is a plus for the Pats.

“My mindset was, any team I go to, I want to make a contribution,” Mayo said, adding that will require a special effort in New England.

“I think I have a winning nature, but the Patriots already have that,” he said. “I feel I have a good work ethic, but the Patriots have that, too. I can’t bring much new to a team that lost only one game.

“I know I can make a contribution on special teams. And, if I do become a starter, I want to make a contribution there.”

He may even make headlines. None of which, hopefully, will involve puns on his name.

jdonalds@projo.com