Tanks for the defense

NFL. Tank Williams knows what people are most interested in.

“When I was a baby growing up, my sister told my mom they should give me a tank of milk because I used to drink so much milk. So, the name kind of stuck around after that,” the veteran safety said after practice yesterday.

“I’ve been able to kind of mold it into being a tank on the football field.”

Now that the introductions are out of the way, the seven-year veteran of the NFL would like to let New England fans he’s working as hard as he can to get up to speed on the Patriots’ way of doing things. To that end, the 27-year-old had no problem taking the field with a collection of rookies and other free agents in the first day of a two-day passing camp yesterday at Gillette Stadium, mixing it up at a variety of different positions on the field.

“It’s an extra opportunity to get up in here and learn the plays and get a head start,” said Williams, who signed with New England in the offseason. “I’m ready to use every opportunity, every avenue I can get just to get more reps, get more opportunities and get inside the playbook and get my mindset to where the veterans are so when they come back there’s not a dropoff from when they’re on the field to where I’m on the field.

“This is a good way to show the coaches you know what you’re doing and perform out here on the field for them.”

Williams was with the veterans for last week’s passing game, and took some time to keep an eye on the work of veteran safety Rodney Harrison, the senior member of the New England secondary. His time with Harrison helped “take the edge off the learning curve” when it comes to learning the Patriots’ defense, but he knows that’s only part of the transition that comes with putting on a new uniform.

“It’s all a process when you switch to a new team,” said the 6-foot-2, 220-pounder, who was a second-round pick of the Titans in 2002 out of Stanford and played four seasons with Tennessee. A knee injury forced him to sit out the 2006 season, but played in 2007 with Minnesota. “You’re trying to learn the terminology, learn the defense and get all your calls right, and basically take it from there.

“Whenever you switch a team or come on to a new team, it’s kind of like a whirlwind. It’s like learning a new language. You just have to go in there, get into your playbook and try and be as perfect as you can on the field, because the more mistakes you make, the less opportunity you get on the field.”