Report: Josh Norman is not expected to shadow Dez Bryant
Last week, Antonio Brown and the Pittsburgh Steelers made the Washington Redskins pay for not shadowing the star receiver with Josh Norman. Brown hauled in eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns in the game, but it seems those numbers weren’t enough to force Redskins head coach Jay Gruden to change his mind.
According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, Norman will not shadow Dez Bryant on Sunday when Washington takes on the Dallas Cowboys.
#Redskins CB Josh Norman isn’t expected to travel with #Cowboys WR Dez Bryant. A story from @MikeGarafolo and me is posting on right now.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 18, 2016
The Redskins, who are paying Norman $15 million per year, are confident in No. 2 cornerback Bashaud Breeland’s ability to cover Bryant. He struggled with Brown last week, but which corner has had success limiting the Steelers receiver? Like Week 1, it’ll be Norman primarily playing the left side of the formation with Breeland manning the opposite side.
Sure, Breeland has played Bryant well, but Norman and the Panthers shut Dez down last season on Thanksgiving. He had just two catches for 26 yards, even with Tony Romo playing quarterback for most of that game.
It will be interesting to see how the Redskins handle Norman’s assignments should Bryant have a game akin to Brown’s in Week 1. If Breeland struggles, Gruden may have no choice but to put Norman on teams’ top receivers, despite being primarily a zone cornerback.
