Josh Norman got burned on the field, benched, then blistered again after the game.
Coming out in the second half of Monday night's blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints, Norman stood on the sideline when the Washington Redskins took the field, replaced by rookie Greg Stroman. Norman returned later after the rookie got beat for a touchdown.
Norman was part of a Redskins defense that got torched in the first half, including a breakdown on Drew Brees' record-breaking 62-yard touchdown toss to Tre'Quan Smith.
Coach Jay Gruden said he made the move to sit Norman for a spell.
"It was my decision early on," Gruden said, via the Washington Times. "We talked about some things at halftime and had to cool him down a little bit. Everything's fine, but he's going to be back to normal and he'll play the rest of the year."
Week 5 marked the first time this season Norman didn't play 100 percent of the snaps. He participated in 59 of 64 plays Monday night. In coverage, the corner allowed two touchdowns on two targets, and a 158.3 passer rating, per Pro Football Focus.
Norman had little to say about the brief benching.
"I leave everything up to the head coach," Norman said. "Whatever Jay said, that's what we're going to go with. I don't have anything else more to say on the issue.
"At the end of the day, yes, I'm a fiery competitor. Never want to come off. But whatever the head coach says, I'm a go for it. That's the chain of command. He's in charge. I respect the head man in charge."
The high-priced corner had more to say about facing Michael Thomas, of whom several Redskins defenders took issue with after the loss.
"That guy. Oh my gosh. That guy. To speak on him, I will not waste my breath," Norman said, via Kareem Copeland of the Washington Post. "I'm sorry. I will not. He's not worthy of it. He never will be worthy of it."
Norman and Thomas then got in a back-and-forth on Twitter.
Norman since deleted his tweets after a tit-for-tat exchange. Of course, nothing on the internet ever really dies. Screen shots of the tweets displayed at least part of the back-and-forth:
Norman: "You clout chasing [clown emoji]! 25-times Lined it up toe-toe (blocking decoy) out-come [sic] of that 0-0-0!! Drew didn't even look yo damn way [trash can emoji] 'Juice' Waste of a tweet!"
Thomas: "Zone Corner, play your role. Lol you don't have no clout to chase. I didn't have to do nothing but punk you all day and watch you bust coverages all game and cost your team so who really a clown[?] And I'm going to bully you ever[y] time I see you just so you know [happy face emoji][yoga emoji][peace emoji] #sis."
Norman replied: "25-0-0-0 [trash emoji]"
To which Thomas quote-Tweeted: "And got you still crying to the media in your cheap ahh [sic] suit and in my mentions crying. You 3 yrs old dude [face palm emoji]. Life comes at you fast."
Norman responded: "You right you did nothing but #Block."
Thomas came back with: "You my son, go to bed son. I was punking you all night give me a break. @ your coach so he can put your so called tough guy self in timeout again [sob emoji][sob emoji]"
And on it went until Norman deleted his tweets, causing Thomas to call the corner out for that move.
Thomas caught four of five passes for 74 yards Monday night. His teammates, however, went off with Smith corralling three passes for 111 yards and two TDs, and Cameron Meredith hauling in five for 71 yards.
Norman appeared on Charlotte's 610 The Fan on Tuesday morning and was asked if he'd put Michael Thomas in the same class as the Antonio Browns of the NFL.
"I can't," Norman said. "You have to catch a ball. You just have to. It's not even a question. How could you even say he's in the likes of ... seriously, man, you're talking about guys who just put up 100 yards and touchdowns in their sleep."
For the season, Norman has been targeted 16 times in four games, allowing 12 receptions, 17.9 yards per catch, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 156.3 passer rating.
