AFC award is nice, but Las Vegas Raiders’ Maxx Crosby already ‘locked in’ on Steelers
Maxx Crosby made his presence felt in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 33-27 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the season opener at Allegiant Stadium on Monday.
Crosby finished with two sacks, two tackles for loss and six tackles and on Wednesday was named the AFC defensive player of the week — the second time he’s earned the conference’s weekly defensive award and third overall (special teams).
Pro Football Focus gave the former Eastern Michigan star a 93.0 overall grade. His pass rush grade was a 93.1.
PFF said he had 13 total pressures (two sacks, three quarterback hits and eight hurries).
Crosby’s 13 total pressure led the way for the Raiders (28).
Crosby said while it’s nice that he had a big game and picked up an honor, he’s already putting that behind him and is focused on the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0). Both teams play at Heinz Field with kickoff set for 10 a.m. PDT Sunday.
“For me, I already flushed the game,” Crosby said Wednesday. “I watched the Steelers’ first game against Buffalo yesterday. I’ve been locked in on them because it’s a week-by-week basis and you never know how things are going to turn out. You really have to stay locked in. It’s always going to be ups and downs, but trying to stay even keeled and just continue to take it day-by-day and one game at a time. That is really all you can do.”
Crosby is in his third season with the Raiders after he was taken in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft.
Prior to the season, Crosby was named one of the Raiders’ captains.
Crosby said there is room for improvement on the defensive side of the ball despite holding the Ravens to 3 of 12 (25%) on third downs.
“That is something we’ve struggled in ... struggled with in the past: getting off the field on third downs,” he said. “Consistency is everything. It’s one game. We got to bring it this week and do the same thing, but to be even better. Our effort was good, but it could be great. There is always room for growth in every area. It’s a good start, but we just got to keep going.”
What the Steelers are saying
Mike Tomlin on Maxx Crosby: It’s his motor and his skill. But I could say the same thing about (Carl) Nassib, I could say the same thing about Yannick (Ngakoue). I know how those guys are being coached. I worked with (Raiders defensive line coach) Rod Marinelli for five years in a real intimate way. I often refer to him as my football father because I was a 28-year-old man when we started working together and he helped shape a lot of philosophical approaches that I have regarding development. Crosby has talent. I tip my cap to that talent, but we’d better be prepared to block that entire group. His skills were highlighted last night, and it might just be circumstantial. It might be matchups; it might be how the game unfolded. We’d better be prepared for all those men to be capable of being that dynamic and impactful in a football game.”
Ben Roethlisberger: “Nothing surprises me because he’s (Crosby) from the MAC. That’s where the best football players come from. He’s a stud. You watched what he did. That whole defense, their pass rush, I’d been watching it, initially, just watching the game. You don’t see a lot of blitzes. It’s not like they’re doing a lot of crazy things. They’re just rushing four guys and their four rushers are really good. They count on those four to be disruptive in both the pass and run game, and they let their back end just benefit off quarterbacks having to get rid of the ball quickly. As you saw, they like to ball search. They get the ball out when they have to from the quarterback.”
Injury report
The Raiders had a walk-through on Wednesday and sent out an estimated injury reported.
Did not participate: guard Denzelle Good (knee), guard Richie Incognito (calf), running back Josh Jacobs (toe/ankle), linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (concussion), quarterback Marcus Mariota (quad), defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (knee), defensive end Carl Nassib (pectoral/toe) and safety Roderic Teamer (ankle).
Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (hamstring) was listed as limited.
Good and McCoy were placed on injured reserve. The Raiders signed defensive tackle Damion Square and guard Jordan Simmons to the 53-man roster.
“Obviously it sucks with Gerald going down, but it’s next man up,” Crosby said. “We just signed Square; dude fits right in. Just met him today, and that dude fits right in with the group.”
The Raiders also signed safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the practice squad and released safety Madre Harper.
He said it
“It was awesome to see a bunch of different guys make key plays in that game. Like K.J. Wright coming and getting a fourth down stop. Zay Jones catching the game-winning touchdown. It’s a bunch of guys that don’t get the respect that they necessarily deserve, and to see them make big-time plays on Monday night is encouraging. I think we have great depth,” Maxx Crosby on his teammates.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 2:57 PM.
