Odell Beckham Jr., Josh Norman irked at NFL's pregame warnings from refs

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman received warnings from the officials prior to Sunday's matchup at MetLife Stadium. The warnings were a preemptive measure after their ugly meeting last year, when Norman was a member of the Carolina Panthers.

Beckham, who was suspended one game last year for his actions, felt he was under such a microscope Sunday that he was worried he'd be tossed from the 29-27 loss to the Redskins late in the fourth quarter after being penalized for offensive pass interference on a pick play. Beckham contacted Norman on the play before the ball was caught by Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard.

"I was honestly shocked when we ran a play and went to, and I guess I blocked too early. I was surprised they didn't throw me out of the game then," Beckham said. "I wouldn't have been surprised, actually."

Giants center Weston Richburg was ejected from the game for committing two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the same category. That is the rule that was spawned from last year's matchup between Beckham and Norman.

"They implemented a new rule this year. It's basically the Odell Beckham Jr. rule," Beckham said. "I had three personal fouls last year, so they said if you come out and get one personal foul and another one for the same thing. [Sunday], they came up before the game and said, if you do anything, we're throwing you out of the game. That was before the game. There was, 'No, you get a warning.' There was not any of that.

"You just have to be on your best behavior. Unfortunately, that's what it's come to. It's not really football anymore as much as it is all the other things that play into it."

Norman received a similar speech from the officiating crew.

"Wow, the words that they said, I'm trying to figure out where they get them from. I really am, like, man, it's just something of the game -- don't try to bring, something he said which I can't think of right now. Maybe at a later date I'll be able to say it, but right now you know, just coming out there, going with my group of guys, trying to get warmed up and [they] came and pulled me off to the side and him saying that we're not going to make a mockery of the game -- wow, that surprised me," Norman said. "That was the word I was looking for actually. 'A mockery of the game.' I don't know if that was from up top or if that's him directly saying it to me."

Referee John Hussey and his crew officiated the contest. It was flush with 19 accepted penalties for 198 yards from the two teams combined. Norman was flagged for defensive holding and unnecessary roughness for a high hit on Shepard. Beckham was flagged for the aforementioned offensive pass interference.

"Yeah, with all that's being written and said about the game, we knew that the officials wanted to come out and get control of the game and make sure it didn't get away from them early," Giants coach Ben McAdoo said.