Josh Norman and Dez Bryant rip into each other in postgame comments after sparring during Cowboys’ win over Redskins

Michael Ainsworth/AP

Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman appears to have made another rival in the NFC East.

During the Dallas Cowboys’ 31-26 win over the Redskins on Thursday, Norman and Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant got into several physical altercations, having to be separated and warned by refs to knock it off.

When the game ended, the two went helmet to helmet and again had to be separated by teammates.

Afterward, both players took turns ripping into one another in their postgame comments.

“First off, Washington needs to get their money back from Josh Norman,” Bryant told reporters, via USA Today’s Lorenzo Reyes. It was an apparent reference to a similar barb from Norman last season, when he said the Cowboys should ask Bryant for their money back.

Bryant continued:

“I didn’t make it personal. I was just going to come out and do my job and that’s exactly what I did. He wanted to bump and me and him got to bumping a little bit and it just made me attack him even more. I honestly feel like the guy is extremely soft. He’s a bunch of talk.

“If he was out and about, I wouldn’t dare on my life let him talk to me like that. Those words would never come out of his mouth. I promise. I promise it wouldn’t. We got after that ass and it was a hell of a win. It feels good.”

Bryant also said Norman was “holding” the entire game. He continued, taking another shot at the five-year, $75 million contract Norman signed with Washington over the offseason.

“You supposed to be a lockdown corner, and you can’t even play man-to-man,” he said. “He’s playing bail technique. That’s not man-to-man. He was scared. He was scared, man.”

“He was holding the whole night, man,” Bryant continued. “How much he got paid? Seventy-something? Damn.”

Norman also took shots at Bryant after the game, saying Bryant’s actions were “trashy.”

“Don’t step to someone when the game is over like that when they’re not even looking for you, or even having a conversation with you,” he said. “They won the game, so you have to tip your hats off to them. But I don’t do trash, and that was trashy on his behalf.”

Norman also said that Bryant told him, “Where I’m from, we unload the clip.”

Norman continued:

“I played him three or four times now. And those times, I don’t think he broke 30 yards, or had any significance of any kind in the game. Definitely didn’t have a touchdown.

“So out of those three games, you would think that a guy of that magnitude, of that kind of big standards, would do more than that. But at the end of the day, I will let him speak for himself. If he feels like he wants to have that, then go play with the kids on the playground.”

Bryant finished the game with five catches for 72 yards, two of which came with Norman defending him. However, it appeared that on at least one route Bryant had Norman beaten badly for a would-be touchdown, but Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott didn’t see him.

Bryant also continued his criticism of Norman on Twitter. He quote-tweeted a video of the play where he beat Norman but didn’t get the ball, and said he would post film throughout the week showing how he beat Norman.

Bryant later said he shouldn’t have “stooped” so low in his postgame interview.

Unfortunately, the Redskins and Cowboys don’t play each other again this season. However, much like Norman and Odell Beckham Jr. last year, it appears the NFC East has another rivalry between a top corner and receiver.