SEATTLE — It wasn’t important that this job was thrust into Teddy Bridgewater’s lap because of an unfortunate injury to the most important player in franchise history. All that mattered in the moment was that everyone knew the job was his, and he was going to do it his way.

The night before Saints quarterback Drew Brees would undergo surgery on his injured right thumb in Los Angeles, Bridgewater treated the entire New Orleans Saints offense to a dinner at El Gaucho steakhouse just outside of Seattle. It was the team’s off day, and Bridgewater wanted to get the offense out of the hotel rooms and enjoying some fellowship outside the locker room.

He wanted them to know he was going to lead them, and he wanted to show them how.

Bridgewater is more low-key than outspoken, but before the meal started he rose from his seat and briefly addressed his teammates.

“His main thing is he wanted to get everybody together and (say), ‘We’ve got to put our foot on the gas. We can’t pump the brakes. We’ve got all these things we want to do, all these goals we set that are still in reach,’” said fullback Zach Line. “I think things like that, for some people, it puts their mind at rest.”

Left tackle Terron Armstead remembered the address as Bridgewater clearly laying out what to expect from him: “Drew’s a Hall of Famer, but I’m not replacing Drew. It’s my time to control the ship until No. 9 gets back, whenever that is.”

And with that, Bridgewater slipped back in his seat and was just one of the guys enjoying a meal with his teammates.

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The stakes are high. The Saints assembled a roster around Brees that many believe could contend for a Super Bowl, and it’s up to Bridgewater to keep those aspirations alive until Brees returns. The truth is the Saints don’t just need Bridgewater to keep the offense happy with ribeyes and New York strips. They need him to perform on the field.

Pressure comes with that, if you allow it. But if Bridgewater is feeling the squeeze, he is not showing it. His even-keeled demeanor is one of the things that his teammates love about him, and he’s not about to change who he is.

“It is just all about being myself and that has been my message to the guys,” Bridgewater said. “When we’re out there on the field, just be you. You don't have to be anyone spectacular. You don't have to go out of your way.

“If everyone just can be the best version of themselves, we'll help this football team win football games.”

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That demeanor can have a positive effect in-game. It’s Bridgewater’s energy that stands out the most to right guard Larry Warford, just not the way that word is typically used. Instead of animated outbursts, think constant current.

“We’re comfortable with him, and the energy he brings to the huddle is actually really calming,” Warford said. “Any time he steps in there, he has this presence about him like, ‘Alright, let’s go, man.’ You can tell he’s a vet and he’s been through this and he’s been a leader in this league.”

New Orleans has not seen much of Bridgewater in live game action yet. He’s appeared in six regular-season games in a Saints uniform and has only seen extensive playing time in two of those games. Neither of those games were ideal scenarios.

There was the Week 17 start against the Panthers last year, when the Saints sat a healthy chunk of their starters after locking up the NFC’s No. 1 seed in Week 16, and there was last week when he suddenly and unexpectedly found himself in the offense’s driver’s seat.

Neither of those games went particularly well, with the Saints scoring 25 combined points in a pair of losses while Bridgewater compiled a 72.8 passer rating. But the Saints are adamant in their belief there’s more there, a confidence that is built on the Bridgewater they see every day rather than the one who has had two sub-optimal chances to show what he can do.

Have Saints fans seen the real Teddy Bridgewater yet?

“I don't think so,” Bridgewater said.

There was a self-assured smile with that response, but there were also the words that followed, the ones that reflected why everyone seems so confident in the face of crisis after Brees’ injury.

“We play this game for different reasons,” Bridgewater said. “At the end of the day, it's about those guys in the locker room and how we all feel about each other.”

It’s not about being Brees this week. For the foreseeable future, this is Bridgewater’s offense, and he’s going to make his own way.

“He doesn’t try to be anybody else,” Warford said. “He doesn’t need to be. He’s already a great leader — and a great player, at that.

“He doesn’t need to pretend. He’s already that guy.”

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