Raiders' Robert Spillane on Playing Behind Maxx Crosby

For stars in the NFL, one of the greatest things they can do is elevate the play of those around them.

Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby will make countless plays in his own regard, but he may take more credit for making his teammates better.

It’s unsurprising that linebacker Robert Spillane joined the Silver and Black last year and had the best season of his career. He had Crosby in front of him, who opened up so many plays.

Spillane joined Crosby on the latest episode of his podcast, "The Rush with Maxx Crosby," and spoke highly of his relationship with Crosby.

“Playing behind a guy like Maxx is a dream for any off-the-ball linebacker,” Spillane said. “When your D-End can go make 100 tackles a season and play 100 percent of the snaps and just do it the right way, it makes my job so much easier. I tell him, ‘Maxx, you go eat, and we’ll try to clean you up. You’re the best player in the league. Go do what you do, and the guys around you will play off of you.’”

Spillane loves playing behind Crosby, but he also wanted to shout out some more of his teammates who also put in work.

“So, it’s really a blessing and an honor to play with him and a guy like Christian Wilkins, who’s coming up front, Malcolm [Koonce] Tyree [Wilson], so, we have an exciting team; Adam Butler, all those guys work," Spillane said. "Big Jenk [John Jenkins], those guys are out there working, and it makes our job as off-the-ball linebackers a lot easier when you have guys like that around you.”

Spillane believes the team's mental makeup should make for good outcomes in the 2024 season.

“I love the team that we have," he said. "The group of guys that we have, I would say our core players are good, stand-up people who love the game of football, want to go out there and dominate people; so you get 11 of those guys on the field together, good things are going to happen.”

The Raiders improved their defense last season, and much of that was due to Spillane’s arrival. The team will look to build on that as it enters the 2024 season.

Click here to watch the full podcast episode with Spillane and Crosby.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

Add us as a preferred source on Google