For years, Washington Redskins’ cornerback Josh Norman has made a career off of being a vocal and braggadocious playmaker; one that would always make you aware of his triumphs, while downplaying his failures.
So it was surprising to many when they realized that Norman had hardly spoken to the media in Washington following his benching with the Redskins. He went several weeks without opening up about the situation, but that changed on Sunday, following the Redskins’ 37-27 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in which Norman was the closest defender on a go-ahead TD for Philly in the back of the end zone.
“You saw what happened,” Norman said to a group of reporters, via The Washington Post. “I’m not going to put nobody under the bus.”
It’s unclear whether or not Eagles WR Greg Ward — who caught the TD — was Norman’s assignment on the play, but he came down with the ball nonetheless, and No. 24 was unsuccessful in knocking it free.
While the missed opportunity for a game-saving stop was the pertinent topic, an elephant in the room loomed large, as Norman had brushed off the media since taking a back seat weeks before. When asked about his thoughts on the benching, Norman once again hesitated to delve into detail, but he did have a few things to say as he navigated the high road.
“I’m still under contract for a year, so we’ll see what happens,” Norman said. “Someone higher deals the cards, I just have to play the hand.”
His time may be done in Washington, as Norman enters the final year of his $75 million contract, which is good enough to make him the second-highest-paid corner in the NFL. That doesn’t mean that his career is over. If you ask Norman whether or not he believes that he’s still an elite corner, he will say “I don’t believe anything, I am.” There may be some franchise out there that’s willing to trade for him, or more likely yet, willing to pick him up after the Redskins cut him this offseason.
He can’t control what cards he receives, he can only control how he plays the hand. So far he’s chosen to take the high road, and he traversed it well once again on Sunday.
[vertical-gallery id=25399]