-
Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
HENDERSON, Nev. — Aidan O’Connell approached the line of scrimmage and barked, softly at first, before the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback adjusted the speed and volume of his cadence.
Hut! Hut, hut, hut! Hut!
The football stayed put, but Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who plays at one speed — full — came flying across.
Offsides, and a free play for O’Connell, who ended up throwing an interception to Jack Jones on the right sideline.
No matter; O’Connell celebrated wildly after getting Crosby to jump in the team’s first practice back at their home facility following 18 days in Southern California. It was as if the Raiders had just won the Super Bowl.
Hey, it’s the small things in the dog days of training camp, right? Besides, finally, mercifully, the Raiders offense got the best of the team’s best defender, the guy who, according to Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, was making a habit of not only dominating Raiders practices but “wrecking” them.
If only for one play.
Indeed, Crosby’s intensity at practice has been both a blessing for a team in need of leaders and a curse, what with the Raiders installing a new offense with starter Gardner Minshew, who also felt Crosby’s wrath.
“He is always trying to touch you,” a nonplussed Minshew said. “It’s kind of his thing.”
Another time in Costa Mesa, Crosby blasted tight end Harrison Bryant in the face mask when the play was on the other side, and laughed out loud at Bryant’s chin strap coming undone.
Yes, it’s football, a brutal game.
And yet …
Pierce has had to take Crosby off the field a few times in camp to allow the offense to get into a certain rhythm.
“It is difficult when you have a player of his magnitude, the way he practices, the effort,” Pierce said. “That’s where he gets you. … But, I think, when we’re doing things as a team, certain things we just got to get off. There’s 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.
“He’s that type of player now in his career where when he makes up his mind, he’s unblockable. And I think he understands that. We understand that there’s a fine line.”
Crosby’s legendary intensity, essentially the same in practices as it is in games, may sometimes rub teammates the wrong way. Even as they know going against Crosby in practice should better prepare them for opponents.
“It’s that love-hate relationship,” rookie offensive lineman DJ Glaze said. “You love it because you’re getting better, but you hate it because you’re like, ‘Oh, man, this again?'”
Glaze laughed.
“When you go against him, it’s going to be a long day, but it’s only going to make us better. … Then you’re just excited to see him go against other guys and wreak havoc, how he does in practice.”
Right tackle Thayer Munford Jr. said Crosby has ramped up the intensity from last season.
“I told him before we even started camp, ‘Bro, I don’t care what’s going on, you’re making me better, I’ve got to make you better, too,'” he said.
“I’ve still got to bring my 110%, because if I don’t, he will.”
It’s not personal to Crosby; it’s simply business.
“I tend to push the line when it comes to getting close to the quarterback in practice,” Crosby laughed. “So yeah, sometimes I get a little too close and people go down.”
Case in point: Minshew, in his red no-contact jersey, getting hit — hard — by Crosby, who tossed the QB to the grass on the first snap of an intrasquad scrimmage in Costa Mesa.
“I just look at it from my perspective — I’m not out there trying to hurt anybody or put anybody at risk, but I’m also getting ready to go out there and, like I said, be the best player in the world,” Crosby said. “That’s my goal and that’s my standard, so every detail matters — reaching for the ball, winning my rushes, finishing my rushes. I’m not going to win the first half of the rush and then stop … so sometimes I do push the line a little bit, but that’s just who I am.
“Coach says it. I’m not going to stop; he’s not going to slow me down. I’ve just got to be smart at times. So yeah, there was times in camp where he would limit me in team reps because I’m being a little wild, but that’s who I am. That’s what got me here.”
Crosby’s mindset, and physical shape, has allowed him to play more than 1,000 defensive snaps the past two seasons. He is coming off a career-best 14.5 sacks last year.
But entering Year 6, the 2019 fourth-round draft pick (No. 106 overall) is coming off surgeries to his left knee and a thumb in January.
“The one thing about Maxx I don’t worry about is his conditioning and if he’s ready to ever play a game,” Pierce said. “The most important thing me and Maxx talked about, though, was depth, right? We’ve got to be smart [with his health]. Maxx has to be smart as he gets older. We need the Tyree Wilsons, the Janarius Robinsons, the Malcolm Koonces of the world to really step up.
“You feel that pressure when you don’t have [No.] 98 on the field and now it’s got to be that next-man-up mentality, and I think he’s bought into that as well.”
The Raiders closed out the SoCal portion of training camp with a walkthrough on the beach that included rookie running back Dylan Laube impersonating Crosby jumping around the line of scrimmage, complete with a takedown of a faux Minshew.
Beach vibes with the guys 😎#RaiderNation
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 10, 2024
Crosby laughed it off.
“I love Cheddar Bob, that’s my guy,” Crosby said of Laube, comparing him to a character from the Eminem movie “8 Mile.”
“The guys poke fun at me and they get irritated sometimes. Some of them want to fight me sometimes. But, at the end of the day, it’s all love. I’m just out there trying to be the best version of myself.”