FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Listening to Mike Pellegrino, you’d think he’s been with the New England Patriots for longer than just two seasons.

The former Boston Cannons and Johns Hopkins lacrosse player already has the well-known “do your job” mantra nailed down in his first year working for the Super Bowl champions full time.

“Just one day at a time,” Pellegrino said about his long-term football goals. “Come to work and do my job.”

Pellegrino began 2017 ready to help bring the Boston Cannons back to the Major League Lacrosse playoffs for the first time since 2015, but midway through the season, he received an offer to return to the Patriots full time. He retired from professional lacrosse.

“It was difficult,” Pellegrino said. “I grew up playing [lacrosse] my entire life. But I was always a football guy first. This was my first love. I always loved lacrosse. Lacrosse is the best. It’s tough to leave the Cannons and those guys. The organization was great. It’s tough to walk away from a sport with so many great memories.

“The good thing is it’s a fraternity, and you get to live off of that.”

Pellegrino, a defensive assistant for the Patriots, hadn’t played football since high school. He starred at Connetquot on Long Island as a two-time first team all-state and two-time first team all-county running back and was awarded the Hansen Award as the top player in Suffolk County.

Pellegrino also was an All-American long-stick midfielder in lacrosse. He earned a scholarship to play at Johns Hopkins under legendary head coach Dave Pietramala. Pellegrino became just the 13th player in Johns Hopkins history to be selected as a captain more than once.

During his senior year in 2015, Pellegrino sought to get back into football and landed an internship with New England working with Pietramala’s friend, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, a known lacrosse aficionado. Belichick, who played lacrosse in high school and at Wesleyan University, frequently attends Johns Hopkins games.

“It was like any transition into a new job,” Pellegrino said. “First couple of weeks or months getting into the swing of things. At some point you just have to get it. Adapt or die.”

Pellegrino stayed on board with the Patriots. He said he “just did a good job and stuck around.” At the same time, he entered the MLL draft and was selected 10th overall by the New York Lizards. Before Pellegrino could suit up for his hometown team, however, the Atlanta Blaze poached him in the supplemental draft. Then he was shipped up to Boston in a blockbuster trade for Atlanta native Scott Ratcliff.

The Cannons were looking to fill defensive holes at the time with Ratliff gone and Mitch Belisle and Brodie Merrill occupied in the National Lacrosse League. Pellegrino stepped up in training camp and earned a role on the team — all while working for the Patriots.

“It was a tough balance, but people have tough balances every day in their lives,” Pellegrino said. “Mine was not much different. You just have to put your head down and keep working. When I was at lacrosse, I talked about lacrosse, and when I was at football, I talked about football.”

PHOTO BY JAMES CIRRONE/PRETTY INSTANT

Pellegrino could not have ended up with a more lacrosse-friendly NFL franchise. Belichick remains close to the sport not only through Johns Hopkins and Navy—he grew up in Annapolis and his father was a longtime football scout and coach at the academy — but also through the Bill Belichick Foundation, which provides grants to youth football and lacrosse programs in areas of need, and his friendship with MLL star Paul Rabil. Wide receiver Chris Hogan, meanwhile, earned national attention last season as a former Penn State lacrosse star who broke out in a big way during NFL playoffs. Steve Belichick, Bill’s son and the Patriots’ safeties coach, played lacrosse against Hogan at Rutgers, and former Florida Launch faceoff specialist Chris Mattes recently joined the New England staff working in football operations and player development.

“There is a healthy amount of lacrosse talk around here,” Pellegrino said. “Not too much, not enough to distract from any football situation, but we can all relate and talk in our free time.”

Other former lacrosse players — such as Dalton Crossan, Travis Swanson, Ty Montgomery and Steve Hauschka — play in the NFL.

“It’s just a coincidence, honestly,” Pellegrino said. “Maybe more people are playing lacrosse nowadays.”

With the Patriots now in the middle of training camp, the Cannons season came and went with a last-place finish. All the while, Pellegrino kept an eye on his former teammates.

“I watched my guys play,” he said. “Unfortunate how the season turned out. Great group of guys. I missed them. Great experience for me. I kept in contact the whole year. They kept me in the group chat, which was exciting.”

Even without Pellegrino in the fold, the Cannons’ future is bright, especially on defense.

“Those guys are great guys,” Pellegrino said. “Coming into that team with [Brandon] Mullins and [Matt] Landis and playing with those guys and hearing about the Notre Dame philosophy and Syracuse philosophy and me from Hopkins, it was good to see how different and similar some things are.”

Pellegrino’s focus shifted entirely to football as the Patriots look to defend their Super Bowl title, and the former lacrosse standout has a role in improving what looks like an up-and-coming defense on the football side.

But might Pellegrino find his way back into lacrosse again?

“I take it one day at a time,” he said.