FOXBORO — Since he arrived in New England via a trade with Cincinnati on July 28, there have been two distinctly different Chad Ochocincos.

There’s been the off-field Ochocinco, a fun-loving sort who has spent his down time exploring the area in his Prius, getting lost in Boston and making a trip to Fenway. And then, there’s the on-field individual, the wide receiver who is still struggling at times — by his own admission — to get up-to-speed in New England’s offense.

While the first Ocho is the one casual fans have taken to, it’s the second one who really matters. And despite a run of dropped passes early in camp, Ochocinco believes he is starting to feel “very, very confident” about his place with the Patriots.

“The reason I’m able to have the confidence — the little bit that I do have right now — is because I’ve been able to consume a lot of information in such a short period of time and I’m able to go with the ones. That’s it,” Ochocinco said after Tuesday’s practice. “I’m very comfortable. I’m nowhere near where I need to be to be a part of this offense in a good way, but I’m on the right track.”

As for the early drops, Ochocinco — who was tied for seventh in the league last season with eight dropped passes — shrugged when he was asked about it on Tuesday.

“I’m human, right? All of us are human,” he said. “Balls are going to dropped; its part of the game.”

Ochocinco has been a mixed bag through 14 practices, dropping some passes but making others look easy — including an impressive tiptoe job just inside the back of the end zone on a ball from quarterback Tom Brady earlier in the week over Pro Bowl corner Devin McCourty that drew big cheers from the crowd.

“I think that’s just part of training camp — you just have good days, you have bad days,” said Brady when asked about Ochocinco’s drops. “No one wants to drop passes, no one wants to miss blocks or throw interceptions. We do it, we learn from it and hopefully you move forward with less of those the next day and better plays. The consistency is always what you’re looking for.”

When it comes to veteran receivers joining the Patriots in mid-career, there’s usually no middle ground — they’re either unquestioned success stories (David Patten, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, the first couple of years of Randy Moss — and, to a lesser extent, Jabar Gaffney) or miserable failures (Joey Galloway, Donald Hayes, Doug Gabriel). To his credit, Ochocinco appears to be sincere about being part of the first group: He has not missed a practice since he first joined the team, has spent extra time after practice working with coaches and teammates and has spent much of his down time between drills speaking with Welker and Deion Branch.

“They’ve probably made it the easiest with so much verbiage as far as signals and other things in the offense that it’s hard for me to get, that Wes and Deion have been able to somewhat catch me up to speed on,” said Ochocinco, who added that the terminology in Cincinnati was numbers-based, which is different than New England. “I think with those two, including Tom, they have sped up the process to where I think that even with a game being played very soon, I could probably go out there and play at full speed without having to think.”

When it comes to meshing with Brady, the quarterback has nothing but good things to say when it comes to No. 85. Brady has always spent extra time with receivers — his one-on-one sessions with Moss during practice were fascinating to watch — and while things haven’t been as exclusive with Ochocinco as they were when Moss was in Foxboro, the two are constant companions on the practice field.

“It’s been fun. The thing I love about him is he’s very competitive and he wants to do the right thing,” Brady said. “He’s been in one offense for a long time, so to try to come to a new offense and learn everything we do — the formations, the motions, the details of our route tree — it’s challenging for anybody and to do it on such short notice is another thing. But he’s working hard at it and we’re working hard to be on the same page.  We’re making improvements, [but] we’ve got quite a ways to go.”

“Communication is the key — that’s about it,” Ochocinco said of his interaction with Brady. “Once we’re on the field, there is no talking. I just look in his eyes and that’s it and that’s how we communicate on the field. It’s pretty cool. That’s what I like about here. [It’s] really, really cool. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say that, but it’s cool.”

Just days into his experience in “heaven,” he wouldn’t comment on the differences between Cincinnati and New England, but said there’s a “feeling of comfort” when he puts on the Patriots’ uniform, especially when it comes to feedback from the coaching staff.

“The thing about here, there are not a lot of — which I really like — they don’t tell you when you do good,” Ochocinco added. “They moreso correct you when you mess up. I like that. So you never know where you are. You’re always just trying to find a way to perfect your craft, which is cool.”