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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
DENVER — Las Vegas Raiders three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby spoke on his team’s contentious week, wished probable soon-to-be-traded teammate Davante Adams well and reiterated his own desire to remain with the team following Sunday’s 34-18 loss at the Denver Broncos.
This came after a hobbled Crosby had two of the Raiders’ three sacks, a week after missing the first game of his six-year career because of a left high ankle sprain.
“You think I’m not used to this s— going on?” Crosby asked reporters gathered at his locker with a laugh. “It is what it is. I’ve been dealing with it my whole career, so it is what it is.”
The week seemed to get off to a good start for the Raiders after their home win against the Cleveland Browns in the wake of coach Antonio Pierce saying certain players had made “business decisions” in a loss to the Carolina Panthers. But in the game against the Browns, Crosby watched from home to rest his ankle and Adams, nursing a hamstring issue, cheered from the sidelines.
Then a social media account linked to Pierce liked a Sports Illustrated post Monday night suggesting Adams, long the subject of countless trade rumors, might have already played his final game for the Raiders. The like was later removed.
A day later, Adams, appearing on the “Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams,” said he had not heard from Pierce.
“All I can control is this talk we’re having right here,” he said. “And after we’re done with this, all I can control is the next thing that I’m on to.”
Sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the Raiders would “consider” trading Adams for a package that included a second-round draft pick and additional compensation.
“Davante’s my boy, and I love Davante, and he’s going to do what he’s going to do,” Crosby said. “Praying for him, wish him the best. He’s not healthy right now. He’s got to get healthy. But we’re focused on the Raiders. … We’re focused on who’s here now. We’re focused on winning. So we’ve got to find ways to do that.”
Adams, on Friday, posted to his Instagram account a photo of famed poet Edgar Allan Poe, presumably a reference to the Baltimore Ravens as a preferred destination.
Also this week, Pierce was slapped with an eight-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA for violations committed when he was an assistant coach at Arizona State.
“No comment,” Pierce said Friday. “I work for the Raiders.”
All of this preceded Sunday’s come-from-ahead loss in Denver, where the Raiders led 10-0 and were on the brink of going up 17-3 before quarterback Gardner Minshew threw a 100-yard pick-six to Pat Surtain II to tie the score at 10-10.
Minshew, who started 9-of-9 passing but finished 10-of-20 with two interceptions, was benched late in the third quarter for Aidan O’Connell.
Asked whether Minshew was still the starter going forward or if O’Connell was now the guy, Pierce said, “I don’t know.”
Then there was high-priced defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who seemingly suffered an injury to his left foot when fellow DT Adam Butler jumped on him to celebrate a second-quarter sack, wearing a protective boot in the locker room.
Just another couple of drops of drama for the Raiders and Crosby, who vented about other reports on him, his loyalty and his purported desire to leave Las Vegas too.
“I’ve got to hear these clowns talking online and talking on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ saying something’s going on and they’re speaking for me, saying I should be on the sideline when I’ve got a high ankle sprain,” Crosby said. “These clowns, they’re sitting on the couch talking about what I should be doing. But the reality is, I’m gaining yardage and trying to get right and so I can get back on the field. Everybody knows my intentions, and they try to speak for me when s—, if you speak to me, if you know what’s going on, then we could have a conversation. But don’t speak on my name … when you don’t know what the hell is going on.
“These guys know I’ll take a bullet for them, everyone in this locker room. So you’ve got clowns that are online and talking, they got their one day of the week where they get to go on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ and talk … about what we should do. And you haven’t even been a GM, [or] you’re a GM for one year. So it’s embarrassing. Don’t speak for me.”
Crosby acknowledged the talk bothered him.
“I take a lot of heat and I could do it … I’ve been through that,” he said. “But don’t speak about me when you don’t know what’s going on and you’re speaking for me … or speaking about the organization, ‘Oh, something must be going on with Maxx.’
“Come on bro, you know where I want to be. You think I want to be anywhere else? No. I got this s— tatted on my body. I don’t want to go anywhere.” Crosby showed a tattoo of the Raiders logo on his right elbow.
“It is just funny,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of people that have a lot to say when they really don’t know what’s going on.”