SANTA ANA, Calif. — Relaxed confidence fits Teddy Bridgewater like … well, like a glove.

You see it when the Vikings’ second-year quarterback casually peels off his boxing mitts, gives them to the hovering instructor and attacks the punching bag on his terms — barehanded.

Or swaggering to the sideline after flipping a tractor tire 10 times and pushing a weighted sled 20 yards upfield in the blazing sun without drawing a single labored breath.

You hear it when Bridgewater scoffs at teammate Kyle Rudolph’s admonition to rent a car and drive like everyone else in Southern California and shrugs off his ballooning Uber account as the high price of not getting lost in the freeway labyrinth.

And you sense it when the fan’s choice for 2014 NFL rookie of the year reflects on the optimism his debut season spawned in Minnesota by demanding more of himself.

“I wasn’t impressed,” he told the Pioneer Press this week.

“Yes, we did some good things as a team,” he continued, “but we could have been much better finishing games. That’s what separates championship teams and determining whether you’re playing games in January or watching games in January.”

Bridgewater won six of his 12 starts, both Vikings rookie records. His 64.4 completion percentage was the third-highest by a rookie in NFL history behind Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger (66.4 in 2004) and Washington’s Robert Griffin III (65.6 in 2012).

Meh.

“I left a ton of plays out there, whether it was due to poor mechanics, bad ball placements, overthrows, underthrows,” Bridgewater said. “We want to be a big-play offense, and I have to continue to execute and play at a high level to allow our guys to make those big plays.”

If Rudolph was the pied piper who recruited several of his offensive teammates to Orange County for a week of workouts and bonding, Bridgewater was the blue chip among running back Jerick McKinnon, wide receiver Charles Johnson and newly signed tight end Brandon Bostick.

With Adrian Peterson exiled and brooding for a trade, there is no doubt the Vikings are Teddy’s team.

Bridgewater was the focal point during hours of weight training in the rooftop gym at swanky Proactive Sports, the agility drills and route trees run at a nearby community college and the resistance training in the sands of Huntington Beach.

They played softball, bowled, grilled out at Rudolph’s ocean-view house and shared moments outside the locker room, position groups, buses and hotel rooms that dictate their playing season schedules.

All on their own dime and without parental supervision of Vikings coaches.

“It’s a special time because you get to see guys off the field,” said Bridgewater, who lives in his hometown of Miami during the offseason.

“When you’re in Minnesota, we only get to see guys in their work environment. To be able to be around the guys and see how they live their everyday lives outside of football, it builds a bond, one that will eventually be unbreakable.”

Bridgewater is fine with others measuring him by production standards or with rewards, but he is focused on victories, professional growth and solidifying trust in the locker room.

“I just want to continue to be a better teammate,” he said. “I’m going into my second year now; a lot more responsibilities are going to be handed to me. I want to show that I’m accountable and just be a better leader.”

Such self-awareness is honey to fans and the Vikings’ brass.

Consider the text messages Bridgewater exchanged with coach Mike Zimmer the day he won his rookie award.

“I said something like, ‘Congrats Teddy. Let’s see if we can win a championship — or unless you want to be a celebrity quarterback,’ ” Zimmer recounted. “He’s different than me in a lot of ways, but in one way, he’s never satisfied, like I am. He understands what we did, but he’s not satisfied.”

Bridgewater smiled when he read it.

“I have that same mind-set,” he said. “I could care less about the single-player awards; I’m all about team success. The ultimate goal is to win championships.

“He just said, ‘It’s time to go. You received this award today but tomorrow no one remembers it.’ It just told me to remain focused.”

The Vikings were encouraged by Bridgewater’s improvement at making quicker and more prudent passing decisions, improving his accuracy and keeping pace with NFL defenses. He is committed to refining those skills.

Even his answers to banal football questions sound cooler rolling off his tongue.

“I want to have a plan before the ball is even snapped. I want to win at the line of scrimmage,” he said. “I want to know where I’m going with the football, what I’m doing with protection and just sit back in the pocket and play comfortable.”

Bridgewater’s maturity and command of the huddle give him ample credibility not only among veterans but the growing number of younger offensive players expected to follow his lead.

“What makes me believe in Teddy?” McKinnon repeats rhetorically. “When you’ve got a guy who carries himself with that confidence, being that young and able to grasp everything in that small amount of time, you know he’s only going to get better.

“When he comes to work, he knows he’s getting better.”

All this talk about winning championships is pretty bold for a team with just one winning season in the past five. Bridgewater, however, says it all starts with a state of mind.

“We always want to talk about it, because we want to have that championship mind-set and championship work ethic,” he said. “We know it’s not going to happen overnight; we’ve just got to work toward building something special.”

Follow Brian Murphy at twitter.com/murphPPress.