The Panthers are just the fourth NFL team to start a season 14-0, yet on Wednesday, much of the attention surrounding them focused on what was said by a punter and a practice squad player.

Up north, Giants’ punter Brad Wing told reporters he heard Panthers’ practice squad safety Marcus Ball tell New York’s now suspended receiver Odell Beckham Jr. ahead of Sunday’s game: "I'll be the reason you don't play, today or ever again. I’ll be the reason you don’t play today, … and other days.”

In Charlotte, Ball, who was wielding the Panthers’ motivational baseball bat on the MetLife Stadium turf pregame, denied he made such threats toward Beckham.

“If I had a dollar for all ex-girlfriends that had false allegations about me, . . .” Ball said.

Yeah, so forgive Ron Rivera if he wanted to focus on his team’s upcoming trip to Atlanta instead of spending another day talking about a he-said-she-said.

“I’m just moving on from there right now. We’ve sat down and talked about things that we needed to as a coach, players, general manager all those things,” Carolina’s coach said. “Until we hear something different from the league, which is deciding things right now, we’re going to move forward.”

Rivera and his staff have done their best to turn their players’ attention to Atlanta. Even cornerback Josh Norman, one of Sunday’s controversial centerpieces, did a commendable job holding his tongue. Usually affable and unafraid to speak his mind, Norman deftly avoided all questions related to Beckham, slurs and bats. But his eyes did light up when asked about what Roddy White said earlier this week.

The Falcons' wideout scoffed at the idea that Norman is a shutdown corner. Instead, he told reporters in Atlanta that Norman’s success is mostly a product of playing in a Panthers’ scheme that includes a good amount of zone.

"There is a saying ... if you don't have haters, then you're not poppin'," Norman said with a smile.

The Panthers could be one of the best stories in football right now, but each week, some sort of controversy seems to follow them off the field. Considering the words already exchanged between Norman and White the past few days, perhaps we have a preview of what we’ll be talking about next week — even if the Panthers are 15-0.

“If those guys continue to have issues and problems with me and my coverages and the way I play, I must be doing it well to the point where I am hearing all this backlash,” Norman said.

“It's pretty cool, at the same time knowing that guys that we face have a little bit of animosity toward us. It's cool. I would, too."