ASHBURN — Days after a brief altercation with Taylor Lewan, Redskins cornerback Josh Norman said Wednesday the Tennessee Titans left tackle’s actions were the “ultimate disrespect” — adding Lewan should have been more worried about protecting injured quarterback Marcus Mariota in Washington’s 25-16 loss.
After the game, Lewan confronted Norman on the sideline, yelling at him to “get the [expletive] out of my stadium”, which caused Norman to leap off the bench and throw his helmet toward the tackle. As Norman charged forward, Lewan did Norman’s signature “bow-and-arrow” celebration — leading Norman to slap away the left tackle’s hand.
Lewan said Saturday that Norman was an irrelevant player and accused him of trying to hurt Titans running back Derrick Henry late in the game.
“How can someone hurt someone who’s 265 pounds?” Norman said, referencing Henry’s size. “He’s a running back. What he should have been worried about is his quarterback, because of how our line just ran through him like rocks, like water through rocks. I mean, gosh, you think he’d be doing a better job of protecting him than a running back who’s 260 pounds.
“Don’t make an excuse. Be a man.”
Mariota left Saturday’s game in the second quarter with a stinger injury and did not return. Blaine Gabbert replaced the quarterback and engineered a fourth-quarter comeback that helped eliminate the Redskins from the playoffs.
Lewan said he was not worried about Norman since “I’m an offensive lineman, he’s a DB.”
Norman wasn’t intimidated by the size differential, telling reporters he wasn’t going to tolerate Lewan’s “disrespect.”
“Guy had a whole foot and 135 pounds on me, but what does that matter?” Norman said. “You tell someone get off your field … really? How about you walk off your own field? I’m gonna make you do that. That’s what we did.”
Norman, who did not talk to reporters after Saturday’s game, said he didn’t understand Lewan picking on “a cornerback who had nothing to do with him … but that’s the guy he is.”
“Oh, you was coming for your running back?” Norman said. “You should have made the same excuse for your quarterback, because you sure didn’t do a good job blocking [for] him. We got young tackles and young ends and they ran through your face. So literally, that’s what he should have been worried about instead his quarterback walking off the field something wrong with [his] arm.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.