New England rookie quarterback Kevin O’Connell says he plans to learn as much as he can from Tom Brady about winning in the NFL.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

FOXBORO — While Kevin O’Connell was earning entries in the San Diego State record book and dreaming of the day he would get his chance to play in the NFL, he watched and admired Tom Brady as he guided the Patriots to three Super Bowl championships in five years.

Now as part of the Patriots’ newest rookie class, O’Connell is getting a bird’s-eye view of Brady in action, and it’s all the more amazing, he says. And while he knows that as the fourth-string quarterback it would be tough to match Brady’s success, O’Connell plans to learn as much as he can from the winningest quarterback in Patriots history, with 100 total victories and a .787 winning percentage.

“The system itself is wonderful, especially getting to watch a guy like Tom and the other quarterbacks get to execute it every day,” said the 23-year-old Carlsbad, Calif., native, who was selected by New England in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

“Tom being in his ninth year in the offense now, it’s pretty much artwork when it’s at it’s best. As a young quarterback, that’s all you can ask for, not only to see it on film, get to see it presented by [Patriots offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels] and some of the other coaches, but at the same time, come out here and see the way it’s supposed to be done every time.”

O’Connell, who finished his career at San Diego State, ranked second all-time in total offense (9,001 yards), third in passing yards (7,689) and fourth in touchdown passes (46). He says that what has impressed him the most about Brady is “his ability to move on from the previous play and play at such a high level no matter what happens.

“Playing quarterback, there’s a lot of things, as you guys all know, that happen on a play-to-play basis that you might not have anything to do with. But it can affect you and if you let it affect you, then your negative play can turn into 10 negative plays if you’re not really mentally strong. That’s the one thing that makes him so special, just being around him, is how mentally tough he is.”

O’Connell has had an opportunity to put some of what he has learned into action and considers his debut in last week’s preseason opener against Baltimore to be a positive one. He completed 6 of 13 passes for 57 yards, throwing one interception and twice rushing for a total of 22 yards.

“It was definitely special running out for the first time in a Patriot uniform and getting to run out on the field and be out there with some of the young guys and just trying to get better,” he said. “I learned a ton last week. Every snap there was something new that I learned to apply going forward here. And that’s the thing. I just want to continue to grow, and I feel like we’ve had a good solid week of preparation so far and I know personally I still have a lot of work to do to get ready for Sunday and I just want to continue to move the football and be a catalyst whenever I’m in there.”

Asked for his assessment of O’Connell, Patriots coach Bill Belichick says he has seen steady improvement.

“He is making a big transition from college to the NFL,” he said of the 6-foot-5, 225-pound playmaker. “He is going from a shotgun offense to an offense that is less than 50-percent shotgun. In addition, there are a lot of other differences with the reads, terminology and so forth. Kevin has gotten better every day.”

“He works hard and is a smart kid. He is a talented athlete because he is big and can run. He has a good arm and pretty good accuracy. There are still a lot of things he has to work on just from a mechanics standpoint, with terminology, learning our system and getting comfortable with the reads and the adjustments. . . . . Now that he has a game under his belt with Baltimore, we will see how he does in the next opportunity he gets and what he learned from Baltimore, what new things will happen to him and how he will handle those situations.”

cthorn@projo.com