The Washington Redskins were one of the worst defensive teams in football in 2017, and star cornerback Josh Norman thinks the team’s issues on that side of the ball go beyond preparation and scheming.
At the start of the season, Norman decided to invite all of the members of Washington’s defense to his home every Thursday for activities that included card games, shuffleboard, watching movies, and shooting pool. As the season progressed, fewer and fewer players showed up. That coincided with the Redskins collapsing on defense, and Norman does not think that was a coincidence.
“That’s the frustrating part about it,” Norman said, via Kimberley A. Martin of the Washington Post. “Because if everybody’s all in on something, then you be all in. But if you’re not, then let us know. If you want to do something different, then we can do that. We can do it in however way you feel — but we will be together. We will do things together.”
Norman said he tried to hold everyone’s interest by offering a variety of activities. He even rented out a nearby movie theater one week so he and his teammates could watch “Thor: Ragnarok” when it was released in November. One Redskins player told Martin that “a few (players) here and there” stopped showing up for different reasons, some who just “didn’t want to be there” and others who said they were too tired.
While he didn’t know when exactly it was that players stopped coming to his house on Thursdays, Norman pointed to Washington’s 33-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8 as a moment where he realized the team lacked chemistry.
“I just think we just weren’t together,” he said. “That Cowboy game, it was like a real big thing for us.”
The Redskins finished 7-9 in a season where they had playoff aspirations. We’ve heard some questions in the past about whether the team was misusing Norman on the field, but it seems like the star cornerback thinks that was less of an issue this season. While he was only referring to the defense, you have to wonder what type of shape Washington’s locker room will be in if Kirk Cousins winds up leaving in free agency.
