Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby made his first extended public comments during OTAs.
Maxx Crosby has been on the quiet side lately, but we all know that's not really his style. Typically Crosby is outspoken, and he comes with a renegade edge that’s made him one of the most popular Raiders in the team's history that surfaced as he made his first extended comments after all the offseason turmoil.
Start with the rescinded trade that almost made him a Baltimore Raven.
“I don’t really want to talk about that, to be honest. It’s water under the bridge. It’s a long time ago,” Crosby said in a pair of pieces from Charean Williams and Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “I’m here and I want to be here and I’m excited to be here and I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s water under the bridge.”
Crosby is still rehabbing his injured knee after surgery, and he added that he’s “almost back” to being healthy enough to participate in a practice, according to Smith.
“I want to be out there and be part of the team,” Crosby said. “I just love what I do and I love playing football and I love being on the field.”
There was also plenty of controversy that revolved around the new coaching staff, as Crosby had gone through so much turmoil that he insisted at one point that he was done being a Raider. But he’s met the new coach, and Crosby says he and Klint Kubiak are on the same page as the Raiders go through OTAs.
“We have an extremely smart and great leader of men in Klint Kubiak,” Crosby said.
His rehab it almost done, but Crosby knows he still has to be careful.
“I’m at the point where I’m almost there, but I forget that I need to relax a little bit, so that’s kind of been the biggest battle right now,” Crosby said, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN.
Most players don’t usually refer to rehab as a good thing, but leave it to Crosby to describe it in a very unusual way by focusing on some of the secondary things he needs to do to get back on the field.
“Ultimately, it has probably been the best [rehab] by far, and we’re not even to the finish line,” Crosby said. “It’s been better because I’ve been able to focus on other things. Whether that’s being in the weight room, like I’m moving more weight than I ever have, and doing things in a different way, and being able to get my body the proper rest that it actually needs.
“This has forced me to have to take a step back in certain areas and not run 8,000 yards on the field every single day.”
