Maxx Crosby’s Try-Hard Schtick at Practice Is Tired and Needs to End

Maxx Crosby needs to relax.

The five-time Pro Bowler found himself in the middle of a kerfuffle with quarterback Kirk Cousins at Raiders practice on Friday afternoon. According to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden, Crosby hit Cousins twice during a team period—which caused the veteran quarterback to get in his face and grab his jersey before the two were broken up.

There’s a golden rule in football practice: Don’t hit the quarterback. It’s why they wear a bright red jersey that effectively screams “leave me alone” during every session. Quarterbacks play the most important role in the sport and can make or break not only a team’s season, but also their long-term future as a franchise.

Don’t believe me? As a result of their dust-up, Cousins and Crosby both were held out of practice on Saturday in Las Vegas for what coach Klint Kubiak dubbed a violation of team rules. In turn, rookie No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza will take first-team reps with the Raiders’ offense, ready or not, and likely not on the timeline the team had hoped for.

Crosby’s try-hard schtick at practice needs to end

Maxx Crosby. — Crosby isn't practicing with the Raiders on Saturday. | USA TODAY Sports

The overarching issue here is that this isn’t the first time Crosby has crossed the line. During his time at Eastern Michigan, he was reportedly kicked out of practice multiple times by coach Chris Creighton for being too aggressive, and since he became a pro it’s been much of the same. Despite being a fourth-round pick by the Raiders in 2019, then-Las Vegas coach Jon Gruden once threatened to cut Crosby outright during his rookie season for batting balls down in practice.

“He’s an offensive guy so he wants practice to move a certain way,” Crosby explained during an appearance on Pardon My Take in 2024. “So I’m not even thinking. I’m just trying to make plays… Boom. Swatted a ball down. Then it happens at the end of practice. I swat it for the third time. He’s like ‘Stop swatting the f—ing ball down! I’ll f—ing cut your ass I swear to God if you do it one more time!’”

Crosby even said it himself earlier this week that he knows he sometimes takes it too far at practice.

“I just can’t tell you how many people have come up to me already and just been like, ‘All right, so you know at practice, you can’t do this,’” Crosby said, reportedly with a grin on his face. “I got up a whole textbook full of rules that I got to follow, or I’m going to get in trouble, but that comes with it. ... I practice one way. I know that I push the line, and sometimes I go over the line.”

On one hand, Crosby’s effort during practice is commendable. After all, that’s where you hone your craft—and his work ethic is part of the reason why he was able to go from a product of a non-power five school to one of the league’s best edge rushers. On the other (more realistic) hand, however, there’s levels to this. You can still work hard without being reckless, and in Crosby’s case, there’s evidence that his practice style bleeds into the game. Since entering the league in 2017, Crosby has been penalized 40 times, including eight for roughing the passer, six for unnecessary roughness and one for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“When you get out there and bullets are flying, I'm not thinking about not finishing the play,” Crosby told reporters earlier this summer. “That's just not in my nature. "That's something I've been dealing with my whole career. It's not easy.”

While it may not be easy for Crosby, it’s frankly a sorry excuse. Players of his caliber have been able to toe the line before, and both his comments and the data show that he lacks the discipline needed to play this game at its highest level—without affecting his team in the same breath.

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