“Josh Norman: ‘I’m the best cornerback on earth.” (That was ESPN.com.)

“Redskins CB Josh Norman ‘can’t wait’ to play Sam Bradford twice, insults Eagles QB.” (That was CSN Philly.)

“Josh Norman calls himself The Best and Roger Goodell a ‘Dog in a Suit.” (That was 106.7 The Fan.)

“Josh Norman thinks NFL refs are controlled by the mob, the league is too soft and plenty of other stupid [BS].” (That was SB Nation.)

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And that’s not even counting the two headlines on Pro Football Talk within a single work day, or the site that simply declared “Josh Norman calls out everyone.” So did Josh Norman know that Josh Norman had taken over the NFL news cycle?

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“Yeah, I see that, so therefore I’m not about to answer any questions about it right now,” Norman said with a grin Tuesday afternoon. “I really don’t feel like talking about it after our practice today. So, yeah, if you want to ask me about how practice went, who we’re playing this week, I’ll be more than willing to give y’all those answers. But right now that’s all I’ve got.”

“Josh, how did practice go?” wondered a team-employed media member.

“There we go,” Norman said with another smile.

What happens when you become a first-team all-pro, the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, and one of the biggest names on one of the league’s biggest franchises? Among other things, you might find yourself on the cover of ESPN the Magazine, a promotional explosion that squirted out bits of juicy exposure in dozens of directions this week. In addition to the highlights cited above — some of which may have been taken out of context — Norman told the Magazine that he has Native American ancestry (“It’s kind of a funny thing, though,” he said, “a redskin playing for the Redskins”) and claimed that in Washington, “everybody can say whatever they want.”

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Can they? Fair or not, this team recently employed a media magnet whose every quote created a headline. The flavor of the past few months, on the other hand, has been grits-without-butter, as the Redskins for once managed to scuttle into the shadows. About the only flashes of light have come from Norman: for his Twitter exchanges with Patrick Peterson, for his just-about-unprecedented deal to provide analysis for Fox’s pregame show, and now for this latest story. DeSean Jackson — who once had his own BET reality show — has gone invisible, while more than a dozen media members waited Tuesday to see if Norman would expand on his criticisms of Goodell or of the Panthers. (He didn’t. “I’ll address that at another time,” he said at the first cover-story question. “Not right now though.”)

“It’s crazy, it’s crazy,” he said of the new attention. “I never would have dreamed that in a million years. Like I said, God gives us these things, these challenges and these tasks that we have to accept. And sometimes we go running into them and we fall flat on our face before we actually can walk, and sometimes He picks us up and leads us through and we do just fine. And right now we’re going through that, and we’ll be fine. … I can take it. I’m a big boy.”

The scrutiny, though, is only starting. In Carolina, as Norman alluded to in the ESPN story, Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly often soaked up the media attention. In Washington, especially after the past few weeks, Norman will not be wanting for postgame outlets. The NFC East lives in prime time, starting with Norman’s very first game in Washington and continuing with a Monday Night Football game against, yup, the Panthers in December. Then there are the two meetings with the New York Giants — which both figure to center on Norman and Beckham. Plus there’s the trip to London, and the best slot on Thanksgiving, and a playoff rematch with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. If Norman wants to be in national headlines, he won’t have to try very hard.

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While he repeatedly said on Tuesday that his ESPN interview happened “five months ago” (it was in May), Norman isn’t innocent about these promotional games. He’s already talked about using media to expand his career options, and he’s savvy enough to know that calling his league’s commissioner “a dog in a suit” might create headlines. Same thing with signing a contract with that many zeroes, in a place where past free agent prizes have been spectacular busts.

“Shoot, when you get a deal like that, everything comes with it,” he said on Tuesday. “Everything’s magnified by 10. You’ve just got to be [careful] of that.”

Teammates have praised Norman, and coaches continue to rave about him. They are, presumably, judging him less by his Pro Football Talk clips than by his more private behavior, and they say they’re smitten.

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“He’s un-believable,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry recently told me. “Forget him as a player; I’m talking about him as a person, him as a teammate, him as a competitor, him as a guy preparing. He’s a freaking professional. It’s awesome.”

Which makes you wonder if the other stuff is just a gimmick, a pro-wrestling play for attention. It sometimes seems like Norman relishes being in the spotlight, or having a crowd of reporters waiting for his thoughts. Kirk Cousins, bless him, isn’t likely to insult Beckham any time soon, and the team’s other best players — Jackson and Trent Williams and Jordan Reed — have been similarly restrained. Norman, meantime, noted in the ESPN story that the Panthers had turned down interviews and sponsorship opportunities for him. He didn’t seem pleased.

“I just think that once I was the underdog, and I had to fight my way up to the top,” Norman said on Tuesday. “I had to drive, drive, drive and continue to work hard and [earn] everything that I’ve gotten to this point. But now, I’m no longer the underdog. Now, I’m no longer that person. Now I am the guy that has to take on a new face, has to take on a new mask and be somebody that is always going to be the standard. … That’s a new realm for me. That’s something that I haven’t experienced yet.”

He’s experiencing it now, for better or worse, “and I think I can take it,” he said. “I can take it.”

Oh, and in case you’re wondering how practice went on Tuesday, Norman did answer that question.

“Great, great,” he said. “We’re doing good. Everybody’s on the same page.”