Toby Gerhart must clarify one thing. The Vikings running back wasn’t simply hit during last year’s training camp.

“Laid out a few times, actually,” Gerhart said. “At the time, I was like, ‘God, everybody’s out for my number.'”

Pat Williams did the honors, bursting through the rushing lane to greet Gerhart with a few shoulder shots to the ground.

Gerhart spent most of his rookie year trying to get up. Despite glimpses of promise as a durable power back, Gerhart’s 2010 campaign will be remembered more for three lost fumbles than 322 rushing yards or 21 receptions.

Not many players needed Year 2 to arrive more than Gerhart, a second-round draft pick in 2010 who no longer has to clamor for the respect of his teammates.

Gerhart has quietly worked to improve, bracing for his role as the change-of-pace back to Adrian Peterson on third down and in pass protection.

No longer overwhelmed by the speed of the NFL game, Gerhart said he can play with the liberation that helped him become a Heisman Trophy runner-up at Stanford. Gerhart dropped an easy screen pass earlier this week but has been consistent for most of camp.

“I think I’m much more confident, much more friendly, of course, with all the vets and everything else, hanging out with the guys instead of kind of being that isolated rookie,” Gerhart said. “This past year, I was a little hesitant, a step slow, kind of thinking too much. This year I’m just relaxing, playing, doing what I always did.”

The Vikings have a veteran locker room that expects rookies to work hard and not complain. The training camp hits are to welcome rookies, veteran cornerback Antoine Winfield said, even though this year’s camp has been lighter because of new collective bargaining agreement rules.

Apparently Gerhart has passed the necessary locker room tests in the last year.

“He goes out there, does his job, doesn’t complain, works hard every time he gets on the field,” Winfield said. “We need him. He produced a little bit for us last year.”

Gerhart reflects on his rookie training camp as a chance to learn as the Vikings wanted to discover early whether the reputation of the 231-pound back matched the heart.

“Some of the guys, later on they said they just wanted to see what I had,” Gerhart said. “It was kind of a test-the-waters sort of thing because they knew I’d be a guy that was going to be with them down the road, and they wanted to see what kind of guy I was.”

Fans could see more of Gerhart, too, especially if the Vikings follow through on plans to preserve Peterson’s health after 1,198 carries in four years.

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave calls Gerhart “awfully sharp.” After his rocky start, perhaps absorbing Musgrave’s new offense should be a minimal test for Gerhart.

“He has a different running style than Adrian, but we’re going to do a good job of keeping Adrian fresh and getting Toby on the field,” Musgrave said.

Follow Jeremy Fowler at twitter.com/vikingsnow.