Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby is a great player, a great leader, and a great source of unfiltered honesty.
Especially when someone brings it up.
Most recently, former Browns general manager Mike Lombardi, a longtime personnel executive turned talking head, brought it up. During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Lombardi offered some opinions about Crosby.
Specifically, Lombardi was upset by the fact that Crosby was not physically present for the Week 4 win over the Browns, due to a high ankle sprain. Lombardi suggested there was a problem between Crosby and coach Antonio Pierce.
“It bothers me,” Lombardi said, via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “That tells me there’s something going on in the locker room.
“There seems to be more than one outage. Crosby has always been a team guy, but when he doesn’t show up to a game, it tells me something without knowing something.
Crosby, who returned to take 83 percent of the defensive snaps Sunday in Denver, looked up in the locker room.
He did not mention Lombardi by name, generally referring to the critics (or critic) as “clowns”. But it’s clear he was talking about Lombardi, given the context of the statements.
Crosby has strongly disputed the idea that Crosby, like receiver Davante Adams, wants out of Las Vegas.
“Come on, brother,” Crosby said. “You know where I want to be. Do you think I want to be anywhere else? No, I have this shit tattooed on my body. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
In fact, there was no indication that Crosby wasn’t happy in Las Vegas. In contrast, anyone who watched the Netflix series “Receiver” knows that Adams was not happy. Crosby was the opposite. Committed, loyal, unwavering.
He’s certainly not the first player to suffer a high ankle sprain who was determined enough to stay healthy that he skipped a game to focus on rest, recovery and rehab.
