MANKATO, Minn. — There’s not much mud in Arizona, where it rarely rains and the the NFL team plays in an indoor stadium. But you get the point when Vikings middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley talks about facing his old team.

“Any time you get to see somebody that you’ve been through the blood with — been through the mud, the sweat — it’s always great to see those guys,” Brinkley said.

The Vikings and Arizona Cardinals are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium

Brinkley played for the Vikings from 2009-12 before signing a two-year deal with the Cardinals in March 2013. But Brinkley, after making $1.05 million last season, was released last February. He started just three times.

Brinkley has said he wanted to play more for Arizona, but he insists he holds no grudge as he prepares to battle his former team.

“It’s a business,” he said. “The only thing I can do is just leave it on the field (Saturday) and let the chips fall where they may. I want to do well, but that’s just the competitor in me. That’s against everybody. It’s not just one team that I’m going to circle and say, I just want to tear them up.’ ”

Brinkley’s most important pursuit now is trying to win a starting job. He started last Friday’s preseason opener against Oakland and is No. 1 on the depth chart, but Audie Cole is providing strong competition.

Sometimes Brinkley gets snaps with the first team in practice. Sometimes Cole does.

“It’s still training camp, and every day is an interview,” said Brinkley, in line to make $730,000 this season.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer generally has liked what he has seen out of Brinkley the past two weeks at Minnesota State Mankato.

“He’s doing a great job getting people lined up,” Zimmer said. “He’s doing a great job anticipating. I think he’s catching on to the system pretty well.”

Brinkley played inside linebacker last year in a 3-4 defense; now he’s back in the middle of a 4-3. He started 15 games there for the Vikings in 2012, when Leslie Frazier was the coach.

Brinkley calls being back in Minnesota a “homecoming.” With the team now playing outside at TCF, he could have plenty of chances to bond with his teammates in the mud.

Follow Chris Tomasson at twitter.com/christomasson.