Norman Benched and then Reinstated!

Sometimes a picture tells a thousand words. Our header photo is the icing on the cake of a horrible and very likely last season in Washington for Josh Norman.

Just days after his defensive coordinator Greg Manusky officially threw Josh Norman under the bus in a press conference, the Redskins were set to make their loudest on-field statement of their season by reportedly benching Norman for today's game against the Detroit Lions.

As of 11:20 AM ET, they've apparently changed their mind per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Update: Washington changed its mind today and decided to make CB Aaron Colvin inactive instead of Josh Norman, who now will be active against the Lions, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 24, 2019

The original decision to bench Norman was first reported by my friend Erin Hawksworth of "Hail to the Pod" with DeAngelo Hall and 106.7 The FAN.

Josh Norman will be inactive today even though he is healthy, according to a source. Not a huge surprise since he was benched last week.
— Erin Hawksworth (@ErinHawksworth) November 24, 2019

It started late last week in a fourth quarter that only the die-hards were still locked into. The Redskins benched some starters in the secondary during a blowout loss to the Jets.

“I think that was just the situation that we were in, we're down a couple of scores, and we wanted to see the younger guys play," Manusky told reporters this week."So, it's good for those younger guys to get in there and to see what they can do.”

Apparently that was not the only thing it was about. When asked about Norman's struggles specifically, Manusky lowered the boom.

"Couldn't tell you why, you got to ask him. I think from our situation, we're putting him in situations to make some plays and we're just not making the plays," Manusky said.

Per ProFootballFocus.com Premium (PFF), Norman has graded out a 45.2/100 in coverage this year and a 47.2/100 overall. The raw numbers per PFF look like this: Norman has allowed 31 receptions on 45 targets, an average of 15.1 per reception, 468 yards and seven touchdowns. Norman has also missed six tackles this year, which is normally a strength.

He has one interception, five penalties and only four pass breakups.

He allowed eight touchdowns last year.

Chris Russell is the Publisher of Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel & can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.