Anyone who has watched the Vikings practice on a daily basis since training camp opened in late July knows that there has been a battle going on between Tyrell Johnson and Jamarca Sanford for the starting job at strong safety.

Johnson was the starter last season, but Sanford began to get playing time later in the year and both have gotten reps with the first team in practices. Shortly before their game last Sunday at San Francisco, the Vikings announced Sanford would start ahead of Johnson.

That wasn't all that surprising but what did catch many off guard was that Johnson did not even get on the field until the third quarter. Sanford started alongside Madieu Williams and then Husain Abdullah replaced Williams with Sanford staying in the game.

It sounds as if Johnson will return to the starting role on Saturday night when the Vikings play host to the Seahawks in the third preseason game but it will be interesting to see how the playing time is split up. The starters are expected to play one series into the third quarter, but there is always a chance that Sanford and Johnson could rotate series so the coaching staff could get a better look at both. Abdullah also could enter the mix.

"We are going to use this next ballgame as another part of the evaluation," defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "We are trying to make a decision prior to that Sept. 9 game [at New Orleans]. But there is still a bit of nip and tuck. ... Hopefully, after this ballgame we will come to a conclusion."

We caught up with Johnson after Thursday's practice and here's what he said about how things are going:

Q. What about the competition?

A. "It's the National Football League. There's going to be competition until you get to your second contract and you go somewhere and another team picks you up. It's just like that. Especially for first through fourth year guys. There's going to be competition all the time."

Q. How do you feel the competition is going?

A. "It's going good. It's a good open competition and it's not just me and Jamarca, it's me, Jamarca and Husain stepping in there. He' s doing a good job also. So I think everybody is doing a great job. All of us have things we need to work on so obviously getting better as a group."

Q. You said earlier in the week you had never gone into a game as late as the third quarter, right?

A. "That's the first time I went in that late. It was quite a different experience but you know there's a first for everything. You just have to adjust with life and run with it."

Q. Is that at all disconcerting?

A. "It was kind of discouraging but at the same time I can't really focus on that or it will tear me down and I'll really get to playing bad. You can't really let it get in your head. If you let it get in your head you won't do as good as you have the potential to do."

Q. You put a big-time hit on 49ers tight end Nate Byham in the third quarter that separated him from the ball. How much was that taking out your frustrations?

A. "It's not frustration. It's more of that's me, that's what I do, that's who I am and if the opportunity presents itself that's what happens 90 percent of the time or 100 percent of the time. They just threw the ball and that's what I do. I could either pick it [but] he's not going to catch the ball. So that's just part of the opportunity."

Q. Do you think you've done enough to keep the job?

A. "I can't really speak on that because I don't know. I honestly don't know. As a player, inside of yourself, you always feel like you're the best. But it's not up to me. It's always up to someone else on what happens as far as the starting position and all that. All I can do is just focus on myself because I have absolutely no control over it."