For the 2nd time in three weeks the Carolina Panthers will face division rival Atlanta Falcons. Round 1 went to the Panthers in a 38-0 shut out, but that hasn’t stopped Atlanta receiver Roddy White from throwing a little shade in the direction of cornerback Josh Norman.
“You must be trippin’,” White said. “Of covering people? You’ve got to man up and go out there and get after people if you’re going to be that. You can’t sit back and play zone, dropping, playing Cover-2 for half the game and say you’re locking people up. Come on, man. Everybody knows that.”
“I don’t get like when people say Josh Norman is tough,” Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones said, via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good player. But they play ‘Cover Two (meaning Norman gets a good deal of safety help).'”
Added Roddy White, via ESPN: “I don’t believe he’s a tough guy. When you say you’re out there talking, I don’t pay attention to guys like that. I just don’t think he’s a tough guy.”
Norman, who doesn’t let one piece of trash talk go unnoticed, responded to White’s comment with some shade of his own, via Charlotte Observer.
“If you don’t have haters, you’re not poppin’,” Norman said before beginning to praise Falcons receiver Julio Jones. “We’re going to do everything we can to control those guys. They’ve got some real good receivers over there. Julio, that guys a beast. I love going against him each time we get to play him. He brings out the good in me.”
“I know that Julio is leading right now receivers-wise,” Norman said. “Roddy, I think he’s their fifth receiver behind the tight ends and running backs. I think he has one reception for a touchdown this year. We’re going to try to hold him out as much as we can.”
Norman was close, but White is actually the Falcons 4th receiver. Either way, the back and forth should make for another interesting Sunday match-up.