Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman hasn't been too occupied by the Odell Beckham Jr. fallout to miss some of the other trash talk that's been hurled his way recently.
Norman has heard the comments by Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins and Atlanta receiver Roddy White, and he got in a subtle jab at White in the days leading up to the second meeting in three weeks with the Falcons.
White recently said that Norman isn't a "tough guy" or a shutdown cornerback.
"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."
That's when Norman decided to dive into the stat sheet.
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"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."
White is actually fourth on the Falcons' receiving list behind Jones, tight end Jacob Tamme and running back Devonta Freeman. White's having his worst statistical season since his second season in 2006. This year he has just 429 receiving yards on 37 catches and one touchdown.
White told Atlanta media on Sunday that he wouldn't put Norman in the same category as Darrelle Revis, Richard Sherman, Champ Bailey and others.
"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."
Last week, Hopkins gave a cheeky compliment to Norman, calling him a "very good Cover 3 corner," meaning he's better in zone coverage with some help.
Hopkins caught five passes for 53 yards on 11 targets against the Panthers in Week 2, when the Panthers put Norman on him primarily while mixing coverages.
Asked why he seems to get under receivers' skin, Norman smiled and shook his head.
"I must be doing my job very, very well," Norman said. "If those guys continue to have issues and problems with me and my coverages and what I play, hey, I'm doing it well to the point where I'm hearing all this backlash."
