Bridgewater a star pupil in rookie quarterback class

Teddy Bridgewater says he has been too busy to closely follow his fellow rookie quarterbacks, a group of passers he will be linked to over the next decade.

He does know that Johnny Manziel got into the game for the Cleveland Browns last week.

He has heard secondhand how Blake Bortles has been faring for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Ditto for Derek Carr, who finally got his first victory with the Oakland Raiders two weeks ago.

"I haven't been paying much attention to them," Bridgewater said before rattling off the responsibilities that have kept the rookie Vikings starter preoccupied. "It's a pretty talented class, one that I'm glad to be a part of."

And while their NFL careers have just begun, a case can be made that Bridgewater has been the best of the bunch so far.

Since taking over as the starter in Week 4, Bridgewater has won four games — more than the rest of the rookie class combined. He has completed 61.1 percent of his passes, second to Bortles. Only Zach Mettenberger of the Tennessee Titans has a higher passer rating among rookie starters. And with seven interceptions in eight starts, Bridgewater has been the most careful of the 2014 class with the football.

Bridgewater's raw numbers don't pop out at you. But the Vikings say they have seen weekly improvement from him, pointing to seemingly small plays such as his 4-yard bootleg scramble to start last weekend's win over the Carolina Panthers as proof of progress.

Put it all together, those first eight starts in the NFL and the dozens of practice in between them, and the Vikings see Bridgewater's recognition of defenses refining, his footwork speeding up, his internal clock getting in tune, his pocket presence — already a plus — improving, and his mistakes dwindling by the week.

"I say it's more of me just trusting what I'm seeing," Bridgewater said. "I tend to think that I'm in a chess match with the defense. In some cases that's the way it is, but in other cases, I just have to play football. I can't overthink things. At the end of the day, I just have to trust myself, trust my skill set, but more importantly, trust my teammates."

His sacks taken have gone down. His accuracy percentage has gone up. And after throwing five interceptions in his second and third starts, he has been picked off just twice while completing at least one touchdown pass in six consecutive starts.

"This whole thing is a process," quarterbacks coach Scott Turner said. "It's not just the eight games. We see progress for him every day in practice. Everything we do out here is extremely valuable to his progression as a quarterback in this league. Obviously, the ultimate tests are on Sundays, but we feel every week there's one thing here or there that he's getting better at. He doesn't really make the mistake twice very often."

Bortles, the first quarterback off the board, has thrown a league-high 15 interceptions, four of which have been returned for touchdowns. Carr and Mettenberger, who were selected after Bridgewater, have combined for one victory in 17 starts for two of the NFL's worst teams. And while Manziel, taken 10 picks before Bridgewater, still is looking to make his first NFL start, he continues to produce negative headlines with his off-the-field activities.

"Like most young guys, there's going to be some ups and downs," offensive coordinator Norv Turner said of Bridgewater. "But his lows have not been as low as a lot of young guys I've been around and he continues to get better."

Jeremiah says that Bridgewater has plenty of room for improvement. He mentioned the rookie's deep ball accuracy and the need to continue to speed up that internal clock.

But he already has seen enough from the 32nd overall pick in May's draft to conclude that he will be a good one.

"I think there are guys you win because of them, and I only think there are six or seven of those guys in the league," Jeremiah said. "And then I look at other guys that you can win with. As long as you have the right guys around them, you can win with them. I put Teddy into that category."