CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera has no problem with the way cornerback Josh Norman handled Sunday’s feud with New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Rivera spoke with Norman on Monday morning about what happened in the 38-35 Carolina victory in which Beckham was called for three personal-foul penalties and Norman two.
“He and I had a nice conversation, a very positive conversation," Rivera said of his talk with Norman. “I told him I was very proud of the way he’s handled things, and we’ll go from there."
Rivera said he had no opinion on whether the league should suspend Beckham for putting Norman’s health at risk when he delivered a helmet-to-helmet blow to the cornerback in the third quarter.
But Rivera said he felt the situation was handled correctly with Norman when the feud began in the first quarter.
“In the first quarter then things started getting heated, the back judge came to me and said, ‘Look, this is going on. Can you help?; " Rivera said. “So he went over and talked to Josh. So Josh understood where the line was.
“Then (official) Terry McAulay talked to me as well. I told him what the back judge had done so we understood, and we went from there.
“I thought the referees tried to handle it early on. And coming to me as the head coach and me allowing the back judge to talk to Josh, I thought, pretty much helped our guys. And we went from there."
Rivera’s biggest concern in a situation like this is to address the instigator. He didn’t feel the need to talk to Norman during the game.
“If I see a guy instigating I’m going to pull him aside and talk with him," Rivera said. “In Josh’s situation I didn’t necessarily need to say anything to Josh. The referee did it for me.
“His teammates did it for me, and I thought his teammates handled it very well."
