Antonio Pierce has had to pull Maxx Crosby out of drills during Raiders’ practices
Maxx Crosby has been known to make life hell on opposing quarterbacks throughout his career with the Las Vegas Raiders. But now, he’s doing it to his teammates on the offensive side of the football.
The elite pass rusher is reportedly dominating in training camp, to no one’s surprise, and doing it while the Raiders are holding a quarterback competition. That’s making it a little more difficult for Antonio Pierce and Luke Getsy to get a look at who is playing better between Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew.
So Pierce had to make an adjustment with Maxx Crosby.
Per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, Pierce had to hold Crosby out of some reps in practice because he ‘ruined’ several practices for the offense already.
Maxx Crosby chased both quarterbacks around as usual. Pierce now holds him out of some plays after the defensive end ruined several practices in Costa Mesa, Calif., and didn’t let the offense get some needed work in.
“It’s difficult when you have a player of his magnitude, the way he practices, the effort,” Pierce said. “I mean, that’s where he gets you at. When guys get tired — and everyone in the league, it happens to them — and all of a sudden on play six, here comes Maxx.
“But … there are certain plays we want to see, and sometimes you’ve got to pull him off on those plays to get the look for the offense. I mean, he is that type of player now in his career where when he makes up his mind, he’s unblockable. And I think he understands that, and we understand that.”
Pierce said Crosby also understood how important it is to get the other defensive ends snaps with him off the field.
“Maxx has played over 1,000 snaps each and every year of his career,” Pierce said. “We’ve got to be smart, and Maxx has to be smart as he gets older. We need Tyree Wilson, we need those (Janarius) Robinsons, the Malcolm Koonces of the world to really step up.
Yep, that sounds like a Maxx Crosby training camp practice. It’s nice to see Crosby wrecking the practices but it also helps others get much-needed reps as well. But to hear him flat-out dominate like that is another encouraging sign moving forward for the 2024 season for the Raiders.
Maxx Crosby brings the intensity to practice
It’s no secret that Crosby plays with a certain level of intensity at practice and that shows every day. It’s part of the reason why he’s one of the best pass rushers in the game. But it also could lead to him being a little too intense.
During a practice on Thursday, Crosby was in the middle of a scuffle as Paul Gutierrez reported:
“Wild Raiders camp moment,” Gutierrez tweeted. “Robert Spillane and UDFA C Will Putnam got into it twice, then Maxx Crosby entered the fray, throwing at least 3 punches at Putnam before ripping Putnam’s helmet off and throwing it downfield.
“Music DJ responded with Rocky theme then We Are Family…”
Wild #Raiders camp moment…Robert Spillane and UDFA C Will Putnam got into it twice, then Maxx Crosby entered the fray, throwing at least 3 punches at Putnam before ripping Putnam's helmet off and throwing it downfield. Music DJ responded with Rocky theme then We Are Family…
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 16, 2024
Now, that’s pretty good.
There were no injuries to Maxx Crosby or any other Raiders during that practice but sometimes it might be best just to tone it down a little bit. Good luck telling Crosby that as it’s been part of his game and always will be.
The Raiders continue the preseason hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night. They will then wrap the preseason up hosting the San Francisco 49ers.
