‘DWTS’ Competitor Josh Norman Skipping Rehearsals Due to NFL Commitments

Dancing With the Stars competitor Josh Norman found himself desperately trying to catch up to his teammates during rehearsal after the NFL player had to skip out on group dance training for football practice.

The Washington Redskins player, who is paired with pro Sharna Burgess during the four-week competition, performed extremely well during the Team Tennis dance during Monday’s episode, despite having to dip out during the week leading up to the live performance.

(On the other team, college basketball player Arike Ogunbowale, who was partnered with Gleb Savchenko, also missed a number of practices while attending class at Notre Dame, but she was eliminated Monday evening.)

“The bad news is he has football training every day of the week,” Burgess told the rest of the team.

“I really wanna be with my teammates, but I gots to get back,” Norman added, sadly.

Luger Chris Mazdzer, paired with Witney Carson said this, plus Tonya Harding suffering a minor injury during practice, made things very difficult during rehearsal.

“It was extremely difficult,” he said. “Josh is out in Washington, Tonya rolled her ankle.”

Regardless, the team put on a great swing performance to “Oops, I Did It Again” by Britney Spears.

“They caught me up to speed, so I appreciate them,” Norman told Erin Andrews after the dance was complete.

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was paired with Lindsay Arnold, also fell victim to the elimination during Monday’s episode.

With just two weeks left, fans have already decided who they think will take home the Mirrorball trophy.

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC