Josh Norman: Odell Beckham Jr. should have been tossed

— -- EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman says New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham should have been ejected for the shots he took at the cornerback in Sunday's game at MetLife Stadium.

Calling Beckham a "ballerina," Norman particularly was incensed that the Giants star took a deliberate shot to his helmet in the second half. Norman hopes the league steps in and punishes Beckham.

"The guy ran 15 yards down the field, dead on collision,'' Norman said after Carolina ran its record to 14-0 with a 38-35 victory. "The play was all the way to the left side. He came back and was hunting, and it was just like malicious in every way.

"I hope the league office gets a chance to review the film and see what they can do because players like that don't deserve to be in the game,'' Norman added. "I mean, it's ridiculous."

In the marquee individual matchup of the game, Beckham and Norman went at it almost from the start of the game. Both players repeatedly got into it, shoving and wrestling with each other. Beckham was flagged for three unnecessary roughness penalties, twice on the same drive in the third quarter. Norman also drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on the same drive.

At one point, as Norman said, Beckham charged at the cornerback and launched himself into Norman with a helmet to helmet hit after a play was already over.

Norman said he's never seen that type of personality out of Beckham.

"It was ridiculous,'' Norman said. "I think it was personal. He was trying to come at me. I didn't take nothing personal. I just went out and did my job.''

Norman said it the style of play was out of character for Beckham.

"You know you don't train like that. That's not you. That's not who you are," Norman said.

"You're going to be Michael Jackson and go around and dancing and playing and a lot of other stuff and not be a football player and not train the way you're supposed to train," Norman said. "It goes to show. I hope I pulled that mask off, I pulled back the face of what that dude really is. You want to play football, play football. Don't come out here and do all that extra stuff."

Coach Tom Coughlin said Beckham lost his composure before regaining it later in the game and that he had spoken to the receiver before the game about this very issue.

"We had discussed prior to the game going in what the expectation would be and he thought that that was all behind him," Coughlin said. "But he did lose his composure. ... I'll talk to him about it and I'm not going to discuss anymore. Whatever we have to discuss, we will discuss in private."

Beckham beat Norman on one play early but dropped what would have been a touchdown pass off his hands. He was held without a catch in the first half.

When things appeared to hit a boiling point with Beckham and Norman in the third quarter, Coughlin said he did strongly consider taking the receiver out to avoid any harm, especially with the Giants trailing by as much as 35-7.

"I wanted him to play the game," Coughlin said. "He had to learn. He's gotta learn at some point how to deal with some things on the field."

Beckham would regain his composure to finish with six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown that tied the game at 35-35 with 1:46 remaining in regulation.

For the most part, Beckham would only say that it was "unfortunate" the Giants lost when he was asked about Norman or if he lost his cool after the game.

The receiver did repeatedly credit the Panthers and took blame for dropping an early touchdown pass. He also regretted his three penalties but added that the officials usually flag the player who retaliates in most cases and that the game would still end up at "35-35 in the fourth quarter" despite the penalties.

"You never want to hurt your team like that and I have learned throughout my life, always second man gets caught," Beckham said. "It is just unfortunate."

When asked if he is concerned about facing further punishment from the league for his helmet-to-helmet incident -- especially with so much attention surrounding head injuries -- Beckham said, "Not really."

"You go look at the film, I caught a slant and the man is diving across my face," Beckham said. "This is a tough game." Norman was asked if Beckham is a young player who needs to mature a bit. "You going to get out here and you're going to dance around and prance around like you're a ballerina, that goes to show you," Norman said. "When you cut back layers, you see. Everybody saw that live on national TV. There's nothing that I can show that he hasn't already been exposed.

"The maturity level on him is just as a little kid. I think he needs to grow. I tried to do my best to respect people."