Until last season, the role of Tom Brady’s backup always came with a cloak of anonymity. Whether it was Jim Miller, Damon Huard, Vinny Testaverde, Rohan Davey or Matt Cassel, Brady’s durability -- he had the third-longest streak of consecutive starts entering last September -- and his sheer star power often left the backup feeling like the invisible man.

But when Brady’s season-opening injury last season broke his streak of 128 consecutive starts, all of sudden, the job of backup quarterback in New England took on a greater importance. And after a slow start, Cassel proved to be a worthy heir. He matured into a quality starter, stepping into the spotlight and guiding the team to an 11-5 mark. His performance eventually won a sweet new contract and a full-time starting job with Kansas City in the process.

Now, it’s Kevin O’Connell’s turn. New England didn’t go out and get a veteran backup -- not yet, anyway -- which means O’Connell is currently the No. 2 quarterback on the Patriots’ depth chart behind Brady. While he was the de facto backup to Cassel last year, that was a role that was thrust on him during the regular season. This year, he’s gone through all the offseason workouts with the knowledge that he’s No. 2 behind Brady.

One play away. Just like Cassel was last year. O’Connell said he’s learned plenty from that experience.

“When called upon, I think you have to be ready to help out the team and be a leader and do whatever you can,” O’Connell said Wednesday, speaking to a massive media crush on the practice field behind Gillette Stadium. “I think Matt Cassel is a great example of that.”

Brady wasn’t around, which meant O’Connell had the controls in the first week of offseason Organized Team Activities (OTA’s). Working with a collection of draftees, players with limited experience in New England’s system and new veterans, the quarterback looked poised and polished in 7-on-7’s, as well as various other passing drills.

“It’s just good to get back out here,” O’Connell said. “We have a lot of new teammates that we’re getting to know, and some of us young guys who have worked really hard the last couple of months. We’re just coming out here trying to get better and get ready as we move forward.”

Being the No. 1 quarterback in attendance, O’Connell was also the go-to guy for all Brady-related questions. While he rather adroitly dodged multiple queries about Brady’s health yesterday, he did acknowledge the fact No. 12 has frequently been around, offering support and wisdom.

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“Like I said when I first got here, I was just looking forward to having the experience of having such a tremendous leader at the position and trying to take things each and every day from him and get better and eventually, help the team any way I can.”

O’Connell, who turns 24 next week, is a 6-foot-5, 225-pounder out of San Diego State. Probably one of the most mobile Patriots’ quarterbacks in recent memory, he put up big numbers running and passing as a collegian -- in 40 games at SDSU, he threw for 7,689 yards, including 46 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. In addition, he totaled 1,312 yards on 396 carries and 19 rushing touchdowns. In limited action last season, he was 4-for-6 for 23 yards in two games worth of mop-up duty.

At Wednesday’s OTA session, no players you might refer to as “established veterans” in the Patriots’ system were in attendance. The 48 players who were there fell into four different categories: players who were here in Foxborough last year but were injured (like Tank Williams and Shawn Crable), draftees and rookie free agents (like Darius Butler, Patrick Chung and Brian Hoyer), players with limited experience in the New England system (like O’Connell, Sam Aiken and Matthew Slater) and new veterans (like Fred Taylor and Alex Smith).

At the quarterback spot, the Patriots had three signal-callers working -- O’Connell, Matt Gutierrez (who has been in and out of the New England system as a backup quarterback the last few years) and Hoyer, a free agent invitee out of Michigan State. But it was O’Connell who got the bulk of the work. The good weather -- no rain or wind -- was certainly advantageous when it came to throwing the football, and O’Connell took advantage. His passes were crisp, and O’Connell looked confident in the series of drills.

He knows the more reps in the OTA’s are just the start of what will surely be more overall responsibility this year.

“Going into your second year, you kind of have had a chance to go through everything at least once,” he said. “A lot more is going to be asked of me, as far as understanding things and moving forward. I just want to do the best I can to improve every day out here and take advantage of the opportunities to be out here with my teammates.”