maxx crosby
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Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby.
The Las Vegas Raiders have cycled through many coaches over the last couple of decades, but not one of them has been able to stick. A big reason for that is that they haven’t been able to find a coach who can build a strong culture.
He’s only one game into his tenure, but Pete Carroll may have been the perfect coach to finally turn the Raiders around. Defensive end Maxx Crosby has seen a lot of coach turnover during his time with the team, but something seems different under Carroll.
The players love Carroll, and Crosby explained why.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re going against, and I’m dead serious when I say this, he’s a super competitive human being, no matter who it is,” Crosby said on SiriusXM’s “Let’s Go!” podcast. “Like, he’ll find a reason to get competitive, and that’s why I get along with him and that’s why the guys love him, because like, in my head, I’ll have to come up with stuff sometimes to give me an edge, you know what I mean? And he’s that same way. Every week, every practice, no matter if we’re doing a joint practice versus the Niners, he’s got a story that he comes up with and hits us with something. So he has a great way of reaching the team in a lot of different ways.”
Crosby Talks Importance of Divisional Games
The Raiders beat the New England Patriots in Week 1, but Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers is much more important. It’s the first divisional game of the season.
With a win in Week 2, the Raiders would be the top team in the AFC West at 2-0. Crosby has been here for a lot of rivalry games and knows how important it is to pick up a win.
“Every game is super important, but you know when it’s time against your division opponent,” Crosby said. “Those games carry a little bit of extra weight. They’re all very important, but they do carry extra weight. And you could feel it in the stadium. You feel it during the week, all the shit talk back and forth from the fans and all that. It means a lot. We know the history. The Chargers are a huge rival for us. There’s some bad blood on both sides.”
Crosby Downplays Carroll-Jim Harbaugh Rivalry
One of the biggest storylines heading into the game is the rivalry between head coaches Carroll and Jim Harbaugh. The two have been getting into heated battles for two decades, and now find themselves in the same division again.
That said, Crosby hasn’t noticed Carroll having any extra juice for this matchup in particular.
“But, no, he’s truly like, it doesn’t matter who we’re going against, and I’m dead serious when I say this, he’s a super competitive human being, no matter who it is,” Crosby said. “Like, he’ll find a reason to get competitive, and that’s why I get along with him and that’s why the guys love him, because like, in my head, I’ll have to come up with stuff sometimes to give me an edge, you know what I mean?”