FOXBORO — When people find out that Matthew Slater, all 5-foot-11 and and 195 pounds of him, is the son of Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jackie Slater — who is 6-4 and tipped the scales at 277 pounds during his long career — there’s one thing they want to know:

“How little is your mom?”

The younger Slater drew laughs yesterday after the Patriots’ first rookie mini-camp practice session when he shared the question he’s asked most often.

While he isn’t the physically imposing man that his father is, Slater inherited some speed from one of the braches of his family tree, and his ability to use that speed as a kick returner and special-teams ace is a big reason why he was drafted by New England last Sunday.

The Pats moved up in the fifth round to choose Slater, who was bounced around as a position player at UCLA but was widely considered the best available special-teamer available in the draft. New England surrendered its fifth- and seventh-round spots to move up six slots and get Slater.

“You get into some of those [later] rounds and based on what the player does, certainly speed is a big factor,” Pats’ coach Bill Belichick said. “You see the faster players don’t last too long. I felt like we would get more by moving up with the fifth-round pick by putting the seventh with it than we would have taken another player in the seventh round.”

The value in selecting a player as versatile as Slater was on full display yesterday: he began both practice sessions wearing a white practice jersey but later donned a navy blue vest and lined up at safety. At the end of the morning practice, he got an interception off a tipped pass.

He also worked as a kick returner and gunner on kickoffs.

“I’m glad they’ve given me the opportunity to work on both sides of the ball,” Slater said. “I can tell it’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m a professional now. It’s a job.”

Slater is the seventh son of a Hall of Famer to be drafted; on Saturday, the number two overall pick, Chris Long, son of Howie Long, became the sixth.

Wilhite off to a good start

With the caveat that it is extremely early in the process, fourth-round pick Jonathan Wilhite looked impressive yesterday. The former Auburn Tiger was said to have “stone hands” in at least one online scouting summary, thanks in part to his three interceptions over two seasons.

But Wilhite’s hands weren’t stone inside the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse. In the morning session, he picked off a pass intended for one of the players on tryout, making a nice play on the ball in the process.

In the afternoon, he broke up a deep pass during a seven-on-seven drill, running step-by-step with his man. Wilhite tipped the ball and fell to the turf, holding the ball above his head as he got up, though it wasn’t clear whether he had actually made the reception.

Quick kicks …

In total, there were 27 players taking part in the sessions: New England’s seven draft picks, 11 undrafted free agents and nine players on tryout. The Patriots did not release the names of the tryout players, though one was punter Mike Dragosavich, who played at North Dakota State. … Dragosavich was booming punts inside the fieldhouse, and frequently hit the roof near its apex, which is at least 50 feet high. … There is one more on-field session this morning, with Belichick holding another news conference afterwards.

smanza@projo.com