Joint practice between the Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday, August 16 ended up witnessing a heated battle between Cam Akers and Maxx Crosby — a heated scuffle that is.
Crosby, the Raiders’ Pro Bowl edge rusher, and Akers were involved in an 11-on-11 team drill before the confrontation. Per Raiders insider Tashan Reed of The Athletic who was present in Thousand Oaks, the scuffle occurred after a play was considered dead.
“DE Maxx Crosby chased down Cam Akers on a run play and tried to punch the ball loose. The play was basically dead, so Akers took offense and punches were thrown. Both sides got involved and it eventually got broken up,” Reed shared via Twitter.
Crosby, meanwhile, was asked about the particular moment with the Rams’ fourth-year back.
“I do what I do. He didn’t like it, and he got what he got,” Crosby told reporters after the practice.
Akers, who did not speak with the L.A. media after practice, took to Twitter to share his side of the story.
Cam Akers Fires Off Series of Tweets
Akers first reacted to a post that featured the Crosby quote.
“Somebody ask him what it was I got? Anybody with eyes saw what happened,” Akers reacted.
Then, Akers caught wind of one image from freelance photographer Harry Ruiz that shows up to five Rams restraining Crosby during the ordeal. One fan told Akers it was a 5-on-1 scenario for Crosby before saying “do better” to the Rams veteran. However, Akers responded with this reaction.
“What does a bigger person usually do to a smaller person when they getting punched on? Grab them right? Don’t believe the hype,” Akers said in response.
While Akers was doing his part in sharing his side of the story involving the scrap fest with Crosby, he did acknowledge his actions were in the wrong and owned up to his mistake. He sent one last message on his Twitter.
“Gotta be smarter though and I will be for the squad!” he said.
Gotta be smarter though & I will be for the squad !
Akers never got the chance to complete practice with the Rams as he was immediately kicked out. Head coach Sean McVay told the L.A. media that when a player fights during a joint practice, that player immediately has to sit out the rest of practice. McVay, however, shared how he didn’t get a view of what exactly happened between his running back and Crosby.
Rams & Raiders Fought 2 Years Ago
For both teams, it’s the second time since 2021 that a joint practice involved a fight.
Except the one from August 2021 was a much larger one…and ended up halting practice.
Excessive fights broke out between both teams. And even after the fight was broken up a second time, tempers flared up again as described by former ESPN Rams reporter Lindsey Thiry (now covering the Chargers) who was among the media members who witnessed the brawl.
This fight had been broken up twice only to flare up again. People being held back. This is ugly.
The end result was the Raiders boarding back on their team bus and returning to their team hotel in nearby Westlake Village.
As for the 2023 joint practice, both teams are set to have one more dual session on Thursday, August 17 in the morning. They then face each other on Saturday, August 19 in Inglewood.
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Rams RB Cam Akers Responds to Scuffle With Raiders Star Maxx Crosby