FOXBORO –– When it comes to the standards for rookie linebackers, San Francisco’s Patrick Willis set the bar pretty high last season.

The 11th overall pick in 2007, the inside linebacker was the NFL’s rookie of the year, the only rookie named to the Associated Press All-Pro squad and first 49ers defensive rookie to make the Pro Bowl since Ronnie Lott over 25 years earlier.

New England’s current rookie inside linebacker, Jerod Mayo, may not pick up all of the accolades that Willis did, but he’s on his way to putting together an impressive first season in the NFL. Mayo has totaled 30 tackles, second on the team to Rodney Harrison’s 34, and has been making strides since arriving in Foxboro in May.

Inevitably, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked to compare the young inside backers this week.

“They are both athletic for that position. They are guys that run well and have good range,” he said. “They can cover ground in the passing game and get in on a lot of tackles. They can play physically inside with the big guys and also get out on the perimeter, in space, on the outside runs, screens, [and] loose plays.”

Physically, Mayo and Willis are essentially twins: both are listed at 6-foot-1, with Mayo weighing in at 242 pounds and Willis at 240. Both players played in the ultra-competitive SEC, Mayo at Tennessee and Willis at Ole Miss, where they dominated opposing offenses.

When Mayo was drafted 10th by the Patriots this year, it was by far the earliest New England had selected a linebacker during Belichick’s tenure, signaling their confidence that he would be able to pick up the defense and his responsibilities quickly. He did not disappoint; over the first few days of training camp, Mayo lined up with the second-team defense, but within a week he was alongside Tedy Bruschi on the first team.

“Jerod has done a good job. He’s seen a lot of playing time,” Belichick told the San Francisco media this week. “He’s played in a lot of different situations, and he’s learning every time he goes out on the field, but he works hard at it. He’s very productive. He’s a very mature young man that spends a lot of time working on football and picks things up quickly, doesn’t make the same mistake twice, and every time he gets on the field he gets a little bit better.”

San Francisco coach Mike Nolan, who has coached two other defensive rookies of the year in Denver’s Mike Croel in 1991 and Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs in 2003, said the 49ers expected a good player when they drafted Willis, but not quite this good this soon.

“We did coach him in the Senior Bowl, so we were confident he was the kind of guy we wanted to bring onto the roster, but he has exceeded some expectations in his ability to play,” Nolan said. “He’s an outstanding player. It’s hard to say much else, but he’s only in his second year. The players recognize him as a very good player; they respect him. He’s very receptive, a very coachable player. I don’t know a coach in the league that wouldn’t want him on their roster.”

Belichick called Willis one of the most athletic inside linebackers New England will face this year. He mentioned the interception Willis had against Seattle a few weeks ago, and said he looked like a running back with the ball.

Mayo played every snap of New England’s first two games, and finally came off the field for a few plays against Miami.

Nolan was asked how tough it is for a rookie linebacker to contribute.

“All of [the positions] are tough to play as a rookie; they really are,” he said. “I think linebacker is a position that if you are a really good football player, you can play early. If you’re just a good athlete, it’s a really tough position to play because it’s much like a running back, you’ve got to have insinctiveness, you’ve got to know where the hole is. As a matter of fact, I’d say the best linebackers I know at one point or another did play running back because you’ve got to run to daylight.”

smanza@projo.com