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Raiders star Maxx Crosby
Back in late September, in what wound up being a Week 4 win over the Browns, the Raiders did something they’d not done since 2018. They played a game without franchise cornerstone Maxx Crosby.
At the time, Crosby was dealing with an ankle injury, and the team did not officially rule him out until 90 minutes before the game started. Crosby did his best to suit up for the contest, but ultimately, the pain was too much and with the year still young, it seemed wasteful to put him at risk for further injury.
Now, it’s Week 15 and the Raiders are trudging through what is already a lost year. And for just the second time in his career, Crosby will not play. This time the team is putting out plenty of advance notice, as the Raiders are not slated to take the field until Monday night, when they will play the Falcons.
The Raiders announced on Saturday afternoon that Crosby will not play.
It got worse from there, too, as Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Crosby might be done for the year, writing on Twitter/X: “Raiders three-time Pro Bowl DE Maxx Crosby, who already has been ruled out for Monday night’s game vs. the Falcons due to his ankle injury, is expected to undergo arthroscopic ankle surgery that likely will end his 2024 season, league sources told ESPN.”
Maxx Crosby Rumored to Have a Rift With Antonio Pierce Amid Injury
The last time that Crosby sat out, he did not show up to the game, which fueled speculation that there was conflict between him and coach Antonio Pierce. That speculation stemmed from former Browns general manager Mike Lombardi, who suggested that Crosby not showing up for the game hinted at a “disconnect” between the star and his coach.
Crosby later refuted that in an interview with Eddie Gonzalez of Complex.
“It’s been dope,” Crosby said of Pierce as coach. “Me and AP have a great relationship. He’s real. Everybody feels that energy. He doesn’t play games. It’s black and white and that’s how you create a great culture and it’s player driven. At the end of the day, the coaches, they steer the ship, but the players drive that thing. It’s a big difference. And he believes in us. We believe in him, and that’s really all we’re focused on. It’s just finding ways to improve and win.
“It doesn’t matter what everybody else has to say, they can say whatever they want, but at the end you’re going to know who the real fakers are, who the real ones are, and we’re just trying to put our team in a position to have a chance when it really matters. So I think is doing AP great job.”
Raiders Could Start Desmond Ridder
In addition to the issue with Crosby and his persistent high-ankle sprain, the Raiders are also not sure what they will have at quarterback on Monday. The team has not ruled out Aidan O’Connell yet, but the knee injury he suffered last week against the Buccaneers remains a concern.
O’Connell did not practice this week and is listed as questionable.
“I can obviously walk and move around and just obviously doing some stuff in the water, but trying to get on the field and move around today, which I did,” O’Connell said this week. “So just trying to progress and trusting the training staff to get me where I want to be.”
If O’Connell can’t go, the Raiders will start Desmond Ridder, who was a starter for the Falcons last year.
