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."
