Josh Norman once said Julio Jones "completes me."

Now Carolina Panthers fans can't help but wonder how much Norman completed what used to be one of the league's best defenses.

So while Norman spent part of his Monday morning in Washington "sipping tea" and telling ESPN Radio's Dan LeBatard "you get what you pay for," Panthers coaches were facing questions about their former No. 1 corner.

Not like they could have answered them truthfully even if they wanted to.

"I haven’t thought about Josh on our defense since the minute he left. That's just how you have to do it," defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said.

"Josh is a Washington Redskin, we’re the Carolina Panthers and we embrace that."

But surely Norman would have helped slow Jones, who on Sunday erupted for 12 catches and 300 receiving yards, the most the Panthers have ever allowed and the fourth-biggest total in NFL history.

"I'm not going to speculate on those things," coach Ron Rivera said. "I think we've got a good, young group of corners that are growing and learning.

"You'd like to see if we could do some things better, obviously, whether it be execution or different calls at that time. But let's not forget Julio is a heck of a football player."

Well, sure, as evidenced by his six-year average of 96.9 yards a game, the best in NFL history and 10 yards better than the second-place guy, former Lions wideout Calvin Johnson.

Jones's numbers are even better against the Panthers. In eight career games, including Sunday's explosion, he's averaged 5.9 receptions for 110.4 yards.

And in the four games from 2014-15 when Jones was Norman's primary responsibility?

Those spit out averages of 6.5 receptions and 95.8 yards, even though, to be fair, about half of Jones's 178-yard performance in Week 16 last year came against Panthers not named Norman.

Regardless, pit arguably the NFL's best receiver against an inexperienced secondary, then add some one-on-one coverage, a free safety rotation and a weak pass rush, and days like Sunday are possible.

"(Our cornerbacks) had help over the top at times and help underneath other times," McDermott said.

"We did some different things, took a couple different approaches during the game and we couldn't get them off of their game."

Once they pulled the franchise tag from Norman, the Panthers knew they would have to take some lumps in the secondary. But this wasn't just about rookie cornerbacks. Miscommunication appeared to be a major problem — from fourth-round corner Daryl Worley to veteran safety Kurt Coleman.

"I'd be naive to think (we wouldn't go through growing pains). That's the case every year where you have players at new positions — in particular in the secondary, where's there's a lot of communication that goes on," McDermott said.

"There's no substitute for experience. Having said that, it wasn't just the young corners. It spread. It starts with me and it's a whole team defense thing at that point."

Next up for the Panthers is a Monday Night matchup with the Bucs and top wideout Mike Evans, whose 26 receptions are good for a fourth-place tie for most this season.

Norman also relished his meetings with Evans, who averaged just three receptions and 48 yards in their three battles. But Norman will be in Baltimore next week facing his old foe Steve Smith. Meanwhile, in Carolina, their former teammates will attempt to get over a Julio-induced nightmare.

"I woke up last night on the hour just about every hour and had to talk myself back to sleep because you look at the Kansas City-Pittsburgh game. Flip the other way the week before. Flip back. Welcome to life in the NFL," McDermott said.

"Doesn't make it right the way we played yesterday, whatsoever. Going forward is what's important — that we learn from it, we get stronger and we grow stronger together."