FOXBORO — Devin McCourty was as surprised as anyone.

The Rutgers cornerback — who jokingly cautioned his fans on Twitter earlier on Thursday that they shouldn’t “tune in to early to the draft if [you] wanna see me cause it will be a while” — was caught unaware when the phone call from Patriots coach Bill Belichick came at the end of the first round Thursday night.

“I actually ran into the bathroom,” he said with a laugh late Thursday night, “and my brother heard my phone ringing and started banging on the door and said, ‘Answer the phone, answer the phone!’ As soon as I got out the bathroom I was answering the phone, and it was Coach Belichick.”

Much to the surprise of McCourty — as well as many who believed the Patriots were going to go after a pass rusher or wide receiver in the first round of the draft — he was the pick. After the Patriots traded down from No. 22 to 24 to 27 (and added two more picks, a third rounder at No. 90 overall. They also moved up in the fourth round from 119 to 113 overall), they went for the Rutgers cornerback with their only first round pick of the night.

“I’m just happy to be a Patriot right now. It’s an incredible feeling,” he said. “Me and my Mom, we cried a little bit. We’re just so happy right now.

“I’m just a guy who comes to play every day. Last year, I played cornerback and then help on special teams, so I’m a guy that’s going to compete, whether it’s playing defense at corner or playing on special teams. I think it’s just in my ethic. Ever since I got in college as a redshirt freshman. Just working hard to get my way into the lineup.”

McCourty is a 5-foot-11, 193-pounder out of Nanuet, N.Y. who is the twin brother of Jason, another Rutgers corner who was taken by Tennessee in the sixth round last season. He had six interceptions, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles in 52 games with the Scarlet Knights.

He’s said in the past he’s patterned his game after Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.

“Just cause when you turn on the TV in my area on Sundays, Darrelle Revis is always on,” McCourty said. “And then, when he was at Pitt, he was one of the top corners in our conference, when I was a sophomore or junior. When you just know you have a guy in our conference that’s that good and we play once a year, sometimes, I’d go watch some film of him on defense. And then, I got a chance to watch him on the Jets, especially during the playoffs. In my area, the Jets were always on TV, so that’s when I got a chance to watch him.

“He’s a pretty good corner, so I just tried to see some things that he did and try and add it to my game.”

Characterized as a “four-down player” by Belichick in his post-draft press conference, he will figures into the mix at an already crowded cornerback position. (One current New England cornerback weighed in on the move via Twitter: Darius Butler called the move a “good pick,” and welcomed him to the NFL.)

“At the end of the round there, things came out about as well as we could have hoped for,” Belichick said. “Devin is a player that is a player in an outstanding program at Rutgers. He was very coached by Coach [Greg] Schiano and their staff. Devin has had an outstanding career there. He’s fast, he’s very tough, he’s a good four-down football player — first, second, third and fourth down.

“In the kicking game, certainly one of the top guys in the draft in that area. I think he’s shown consistent production in that program, again in a very well coached program. I have a lot of respect for what he’s done there. We felt like by backing off a little bit that we could still make that pick and that was the case. In the end, we acquired a third-round pick tomorrow, No. 90. We felt like that was good value the way things turned out.”

Belichick and McCourty connected earlier this offseason when Belichick was at Rutgers for a coaches’ clinic. The two had a sitdown and broke down game film.

“We had about an hour and we watched some film and just spoke for a little while. It was a really generic conversation,” McCourty said. “He told me some things on film just watching and helping me out as a player.”

McCourty’s special teams performance also likely played a large role in his selection. At Rutgers, he had six blocked punts, one blocked field goal attempt and a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He also took over kickoff return duties as a senior, averaging 25.43 yards on 14 returns that included a 98-yard touchdown, third-longest in school annals.

“I think it’s very important,” McCourty said of special teams. “Coach always preached on how important special teams could be. He always said, ‘It might not be just offense and defense. You need to be able to make some plays on special teams. That can be the tiebreaker within the game.’ I think the play I had on special teams was the tiebreaker when we were in close games, so I take it very seriously.”

McCourty does have the advantage of having a brother who is already in the NFL. He said he’s already gotten plenty of advice about life in the league.

“The biggest thing he told me was that you first have to get used to the lifestyle of the NFL. He said he knows it kind of caught a lot of guys by surprise, your lifestyle changes. The biggest thing he learned was a whole bunch of new things that are going on, you also have to realize that football is still the reason why your life is changed and it’s still your job.

“He said to be able to stay focused on football and doing the right things in football and making sure you’re prepared every time you step on the field he said, because guys are a lot better.”