New England Patriots’ Junior Seau, right, with teammate Larry Izzo stretches before football practice in Foxboro yesterday.

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AP / Patrick Whittemore

FOXBORO — Junior Seau walked back into Gillette Stadium yesterday like he had never left, his perfect tan the only sign that the future Hall of Fame linebacker has been surfing, not playing football, for the entire NFL season.

“I have a pretty good tan — I think I’ll be losing that within the next two or three weeks,” Seau joked with reporters after his signing was official yesterday. Then he turned serious, explaining that this was the only team that could have possibly drawn him back.

“It is because I have a lot of respect for a coach named Bill Belichick, and a lot of love for the guys in this locker room. That’s the only reason I’m here.”

The Patriots picked up the phone Wednesday night to lure Seau, 39, out of retirement in hopes of bolstering their depth at linebacker, where they have been hit hard by injuries. The team put standout Adalius Thomas on injured reserve yesterday, and linebackers Pierre Thomas and Vince Redd missed practice today with injuries. Linebacker Eric Alexander is also out.

Enter Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowl player now starting what will be his 19th NFL season. The longtime San Diego Charger has played with the Patriots the last two seasons, piling up 76 tackles and 3.5 sacks last year before suffering a broken arm. He had shoulder surgery in February, and then returned home to San Diego to spend time with his family.

The normally subdued Belichick was effusive in his praise of Seau, and what he brings to the team.

“That’s part of the whole makeup of Junior that is so phenomenal,” Belichick said. “He is ready to play football. He’s a football player. You look ‘football player’ up in the dictionary and Junior Seau, Troy Brown, those are the guys who define it –– in every sense of the word.

“He’s just good for your football team, period. He’s a good player. He’s a good person. He loves the game, and I think that enthusiasm and passion carries over to everybody who is around him –– players, coaches, other people in the organization. He’s a special guy, and a special player. He brings a lot.”

Seau wasn’t sure whether he would actually see the field in tomorrow’s game against the Seahawks, saying that he’s physically fit — but he hasn’t exactly been doing football drills every day.

“To stay in shape, I’ve been carrying a cooler, cutting up oranges for my daughter, for her volleyball games, watching my son play football — you know, just really enjoying the fruits of our labor. But now I’ve got to cut that out and play football,” Seau said.

Seau says it has been a shock to adjust to actually being on the team’s schedule after lounging on his own for several months, and that it is a little bewildering to change situations so quickly — but he didn’t want to get into details.

“I don’t want to get all Oprah on you,” he said. “It is what it is … you have to make an adjustment and make it quick.”

While Seau made it clear that he would have come back only for the Patriots, he also allowed that no other teams were asking.

“Nah, no one wanted a 40-year-old — you kidding me?” Seau said.

Seau’s arrival immediately brought a jolt to what can be a sedate locker room. As Seau sat at a locker that did not yet bear his name and put on cleats for the first time this season, linebacker Mike Vrabel ribbed him while fullback Heath Evans stood next to him answering questions.

Evans was asked what Seau’s arrival meant to the team.

“Anytime you can get 100 years of experience in one day…,” Evans started in on Seau.

“Whoa whoa whoa” Seau cut him off, “Hey, this is the same guy that had my poster up in his room,” he kidded with the decade-younger Evans.

Seau is the second former Patriots linebacker brought back in the last several days. The Patriots also signed Roosevelt Colvin, a Patriot from 2003 to 2007, on Wednesday. Belichick said yesterday that he was unsure whether Colvin would play tomorrow.

dbarbari@projo.com