Getty Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby.
Maxx Crosby is a workhorse. The Las Vegas Raiders had to send him home for a while after he tested positive for COVID-19 but not even that could stop him from putting in work. However, Crosby has only recently moved to Las Vegas and doesn’t have a lot of workout equipment at his new house.
He revealed that he resorted to using palm trees as a way to workout.
“I was stuck at home and I didn’t have bags or anything like that,” Crosby said Monday. “Shoutout to the training staff, they brought me weights and stuff like that, but all I had was a palm tree in my backyard. I was sending them videos every day of me working and literally doing hand workouts on a palm tree. I was messing my hands up. It was funny. They gave me some grief about it and made fun of me, but I was trying to get as much work in as I could because it wasn’t easy.”
Smacking around palm trees probably wasn’t the best idea but he clearly just wants to put in work. He did also reveal that his hands got all messed up from the workouts. Fortunately, he’s back at practice now and can work out with real equipment.
Crosby Praises Rod Marinelli
One thing that should help the defensive line this year is the hiring of Rod Marinelli. He’s one of the top defensive minds in the NFL and has already received praise from players and other coaches.
“Coach Marinelli, the thing I love about him is he keeps it real and he pushes me every day,” Crosby said. “Just because I had one good year, I don’t want a coach to tap me on the ass and be nice and overdo everything like, ‘Yeah! Good job, Maxx.’ That’s not me. That’s not my personality. I love the way he coaches. I can’t wait for the season to get here because he’s getting us better every single day. He’s pushing us to new limits.”
Marinelli is as tough as they come and that’s probably perfect considering how young the Raiders’ defensive line is. The unit saw a big leap in production last season and should see another leap this year.
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Crosby Believes Raiders Look More Dynamic
The Raiders spent a lot of money this offseason to fill some major holes on defense. Since Paul Guenther took over as defensive coordinator in 2018, the team has been among the worst on that side of the ball. However, a lot of that is because they lacked talent. That shouldn’t be the case anymore and Crosby praised Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock for putting together a good defense.
“They’re trying to help this defense improve on every single level and I think we did that,” Crosby said. “You can see it on the field. We look more dynamic. We look more hungry. We have guys that want to beat the hell out of people and I love that.
“I think we’re going to open some eyes, for sure.”
The Raiders offense is getting a lot of hype but that doesn’t mean the defense can’t surprise a lot of people this season.
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