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FOXBORO — Erick Hunter won’t forget the call he received any time soon. “The fastest answered prayer I ever had,” Hunter said Thursday. That call, placed by Hunter’s agent after his release in Detroit on Aug. 30, was to share that the Patriots wanted to sign him to their active roster. As an undrafted, small-school prospect who signed two weeks after the draft, Hunter impressed the Lions, who faced a numbers crunch at linebacker and consequently chose to release him. He waited at the facility on cutdown day before learning of the Lions’ decision, and it was expected he might stick around on the practice squad, provided he cleared waivers. Then the call came. “I’m just starting to learn the business side of the league a little bit, but it was definitely crazy,” Hunter said. “A crazy moment.” The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder played college at the FCS level for Morgan State, where he became an All-American. As a prospect, he tested well athletically, and met with a Patriots scouting assistant at an all-star showcase before the draft. After the Lions signed him in May, the Patriots kept tabs from afar during the preseason, when he graded out as the 10th-best linebacker in football at Pro Football Focus from those exhibitions. Hunter also didn’t miss a tackle, even while playing special teams. “I mean, he learns something new every day that he’s just never known, never been taught, no idea,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said this summer. “And that (happens) sometimes playing in a smaller school. But man, he’s athletic, and he takes notes, he listens, he works his tail off in practice.” Hunter said he prides himself on knowing an entire defensive playbook, something he did at Morgan State and hopes to do in New England. It’s unclear if he will play a role in the Patriots’ season opener at Seattle next week. But, Hunter figures, the faster he learns, the more likely it is he’ll suit up. “The more I know, the faster I play,” he said. “I might look even faster on the field if I know where the (defensive line) stunts are going and how I can play off of them.” Asked to describe his style of play, Hunter didn’t hold back with a self-scouting report the Patriots surely hope now he can bring to life. “I’m definitely a sideline-to-sideline speed guy,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in stopping the run, but I specialize in my coverage. That’s my that’s my strongest superpower.”