Tank Williams, left, defends against Benjamin Watson on a pass that went incomplete in yesterday’s afternoon practice.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

FOXBORO — At least he’s honest.

Asked yesterday if he’ll be listed as a safety or linebacker when the New England Patriots’ final regular-season roster comes out in early September, Tank Williams didn’t try to get creative with his answer.

“I’m not sure. I’m not sure at all,” he said with a chuckle.

Once one of the rising young safeties in the NFL, Williams was signed to a one-year deal by New England in the offseason. But since arriving in Foxboro, he has been learning the inside linebacker position, and working there almost exclusively during on-field work.

Not that he’s complaining.

“I knew I was going to be doing a lot of things; when you come in here you know that you have to play a lot of positions,” Williams said. “So I just came in with the mindset that wherever they were going to put me I was going to learn the defense for that position and go out there and try to play it well.” Though at 6-foot-2 and 223 pounds, Williams is a little on the light side compared with the Patriots’ other inside linebackers — Tedy Bruschi, Jerod Mayo, Victor Hobson and Eric Alexander are all in the 240-250 pound range — he has embraced the change.

Physically, one of the biggest challenges for Williams at linebacker is taking on linemen more frequently, and mentally, it is learning not just a whole new system — having played with the Vikings for the last two years — but also the intricacies of a new position. He has leaned on Bruschi as well as other Patriots defensive veterans to ensure that he’s calling the right coverage or to see if he can make a read quicker.

“He’s good at times and other times he has to learn things,” Bruschi said of Williams. “He’s never done it before. He’s learning. It’s different for him taking on guards sometimes at that level (closer to the line of scrimmage); he’s used to second-level sort of situations where he has a little more space. But surprisingly he’s accepted it all and he’s done a good job with it, doing the best he can out there. He’s still with the first group, working hard.”

Bill Belichick is pleased with Williams’ versatility, which can go a long way with the Patriots. “Tank is a very versatile player. He has played in the secondary, he has played close to the line of scrimmage, he’s been productive in the kicking game, he can blitz and he can cover,” Belichick said. “How that will all work out, we’ll just have to see, but he can do a number of different things and we will work with him in those different roles.”

While this is the first time Williams has played linebacker in the NFL, he does have some experience at the position. He remembered that in his final year at Stanford one of the team’s linebackers was hurt. Williams, being big for a safety, was asked by then-coach Ty Willingham to play linebacker and safety against Oregon, with the Ducks ranked top-five in the country; the Cardinal went into Eugene and handed Oregon its first home loss in several years.

“So I went from free safety on one play to playing linebacker on another play and back to safety,” Williams recalled yesterday. “You have to know the defense pretty much in and out when you’re a safety or a linebacker, so the way I look at it, the more you know and the more I show that I am able to play these positions, then I give myself a better opportunity” to stay in New England.

Growing up in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Williams was a football fan, but mentioned Ronnie Lott and Steve Atwater as hard-hitting players he favored. He also liked to watch the New York Giants, whose defense was anchored by Lawrence Taylor and current Pats’ defensive line coach Pepper Johnson and coached by one Bill Belichick.

Belichick often regales his players, particularly the linebackers, with stories of those Giants. Williams hasn’t heard any yet — he has to keep his priorities in order.

“I haven’t heard too many stories yet,” he said. “I’ve been too worried about getting in my playbook and learning my assignments first. After I feel comfortable doing that and making all the assignments and checks out there, then I’ll ask for a story or two. But right now, I think that is the least of my worries.” As for that opening day roster, Williams isn’t too concerned whether there is an LB or an S next to his name — he just wants his name on there.

“As long it’s on the roster and it has me doing something helping this team, then I really don’t care what it says.”

smanza@projo.com