The Minnesota Vikings may have spent another early draft pick on a cornerback, but that won’t stop Captain Munnerlyn from ‘brining it’ this season.

Sometimes, players can look at a team’s moves in free agency or the NFL Draft to figure out just how important they are to the squad. For example, the Minnesota Vikings used another early draft pick this year on second-round cornerback Mackensie Alexander despite having other early picks and top free agents on the squad.

For cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, he doesn’t see this as a bad thing. In fact, he sees the talented rookie as more competition to push to be an even better player. For many players, a situation like this would have caused frustration or maybe even anger, but the veteran knows the team isn’t ready to throw in the towel on him.

According to an article on the ESPN website, Munnerlyn is embracing this opportunity to push himself to get better for the Minnesota Vikings:

“When they drafted a corner, I wasn’t mad, or I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, man — I’m out of here,'” Munnerlyn said. “I didn’t look at it that way. It’s just like, ‘Man, I’ve got to bring it.’ I’ve got to bring up my game a little bit more, go out there and ball out.”

Munnerlyn already stepped up his game considerably from last season. After a first year in Minnesota which saw him playing out of position at times and acting instinctively, he began following the directions of coach Zimmer and the Minnesota Vikings staff and increased his efficiency despite not appearing on the stat sheet.

It looks like Captain Munnerlyn will continue to be an important part of the Vikings secondary, but the wily veteran isn’t happy rest on that going forward.

“As an athlete, as a player, you want to know whether they want you here or they don’t want you here. Will I be playing in Minnesota for the next four or five years? ” Munnerlyn said. “But at the same time, you can’t control that. The only thing you can control is what you do on the football field.”

You can see Captain Munnerlyn and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings during the 2016 NFL season, as the team looks to defend the NFC North championship as well as hopefully make another run at the playoffs.