CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It’s safe to say cornerback Captain Munnerlyn and Carolina Panthers wide receiver Devin Funchess need to have a conversation.

It probably won’t involve trash talking.

Munnerlyn said a few harsh things about what he kept referring to on Saturday as his new-old teammates when the Minnesota Vikings beat the Panthers in September at Bank of America Stadium.

He was particularly harsh that day on Funchess.

Munnerlyn was reminded of his comments after officially signing a four-year, $21 million deal to return to the organization that drafted him out of college in 2009, that let him go to Minnesota in 2014.

“I knew that question was coming,’’ Munnerlyn said with his infectious smile.

In case you forgot, this is what the 28-year-old cornerback said about Funchess after a 22-10 Minnesota victory in which the receiver had no catches on two targets.

“Funchess, we weren’t worried about him,’’ Munnerlyn told reporters at the time. “I’m just going to be honest. Me, personally, and I never talk like this, but I don’t think he is that good, No. 17.

“So, we weren’t really worried about him. We were worried about [Kelvin] Benjamin and Ted Ginn Jr. and Corey Brown. We knew they were getting the ball and receiving well. We just tried to communicate and make plays.”

Munnerlyn likes to talk trash more than he might admit. At 5-foot-9, he admits to having “little-man syndrome.’’

The Panthers could use a bit of that in a secondary that was tame last season after 2015 Pro Bowl selection Josh Norman had his franchise tag rescinded and signed with Washington.

So Munnerlyn can offer a much-needed edge to the defense at the nickelback spot.

But in this case, he brushed off his comments about Funchess as competitive noise.

“It was all out of competitive spirit,’’ said Munnerlyn, a seventh-round pick by Carolina in 2009. “It wasn’t nothing against the guys in the locker room or things like that.

“I was just being competitive.’’

It also was justified. Funchess wasn’t much of a factor in 2016, catching only 23 passes for 371 yards in his second season out of Michigan.

And Munnerlyn won’t back down to Funchess, 6-4, on the practice field now that they’re teammates.

“I’m going to compete with him,’’ he said. “No, I want him to be a better football player. Now I’m on his team. In practice, we’re definitely going to compete against each other.

“He will want to prove me wrong, and at the same time I don’t mind that. If I can bring the best out of you, I’m definitely down with that.’’

Munnerlyn also took a shot at the rest of the team after Minnesota overcame a 10-0 deficit that would have been 17-2 had a penalty not negated a Carolina touchdown in the second quarter.

He told Alex Marvez of The Sporting News that once the Vikings took the lead in the second half, “I knew it was over.’’

“I’ve been in that locker room before, so I knew,’’ Munnerlyn said that day. “Those guys really don’t play well when they are down. ... I wish those guys the best. But hey, I don’t care what they do. They can lose every game from now on.”

When the quote drew headlines, Munnerlyn called then-Carolina secondary coach Steve Wilks, who was promoted to defensive coordinator during the offseason after Sean McDermott was hired as the head coach at Buffalo.

“I was, ‘Coach, I didn’t mean it like that,’ ’’ Munnerlyn said. “He was, ‘No, no, we got the message. We got the message.’ ’’

The Panthers didn’t lose every game after that, but they lost a lot. They finished 6-10 a year removed from going to Super Bowl 50.

Munnerlyn believes the addition of him and other free agents, such as 37-year-old defensive end Julius Peppers, will get the team back on track.

That’s one of the reasons it didn’t take much to convince him to come back to Charlotte, which remained his offseason home during the three years he was in Minnesota.

But just to be safe, the Panthers had linebacker Thomas Davis, defensive end Charles Johnson and linebacker Luke Kuechly heavily involved in the recruitment process.

“I’m familiar with a lot of faces, I’m familiar with the coaching staff,’’ Munnerlyn said. “Seeing the moves they made in free agency, I’m, ‘OK, they’re trying to get back to the Super Bowl.’ ’’

But first, Munnerlyn needs to have a conversation or two with his new-old teammates about what was said six months ago.

He should begin with Funchess.

“So it was all out of fun to me,’’ he said. “Sometimes it gets blown out too much. At the same time, it was the competitiveness in me.’’