Getty Former Raiders DE Howie Long.
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby has earned a reputation as being an iron man. He’s led all defensive in the NFL in snaps in back-to-back seasons. He’s also never missed a game in his NFL career.
Last season, it looked like there was a chance he might miss the team’s Week 12 game against the Kansas City Chiefs due to an infection in his knee. He decided to play through the injury, which presented a serious risk. While Crosby was OK, he had to undergo multiple surgeries this offseason.
Raiders Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long also had a reputation as a player who would play through injuries. He recently told Crosby that he needs to be more cautious and there’s nothing wrong with taking snaps off.
“Listen, I’m not going to tell you what to do, because I played the same number of snaps,” Long said on the June 25 episode of “The Rush with Maxx Crosby.” “You know I didn’t rotate, there was no rotating then. Now they rotate and that can be a good thing you know, it’s like you could pick a spot here or there to take a blow and you know inevitably if I hit you with a hammer enough, you’re going to blink.
“When you’re at the kind of snaps you are, I think you were the No. 1 defensive lineman in snaps played percentage-wise, I’d like to see you rotate a little bit more, just as an alumni, an older brother, you know someone who wants to see you do great.”
Time will tell if Crosby takes the advice but there’s no doubt he respects Long, who may be the greatest defensive lineman in Raiders history.
Howie Long Praises Maxx Crosby
Long may think that Crosby should take more snaps off, but he’s very high on the young defensive end’s ability. He had some high praise for Crosby.
“I don’t know that there’s anybody that puts it together quite the way you do,” Long told Crosby. “I really, really mean that.”
Crosby finished as a final for Defensive Player of the Year last season and made his second All-Pro team.
Howie Long Sees Himself in Maxx Crosby
Long was with the Raiders during their glory years and won a Super Bowl with the team. However, he was rarely satisfied as he wanted the team to keep getting better. He believes he sees that same drive in Crosby.
“The thing about it is, people like you – and there are a lot of players in the league like this – I’m not sure they all think the same way, but I always felt like I never was happy,” Long said. “Sunday night, if we were in a, let’s say, Near-I left, or it’s Far-I right and Y-off, Y-motion, bring the tight end, I was a split-second late on my first step, and gave a little bit of ground and ended up recovering outside, but I gave a little bit of ground. You can’t get past that on a Sunday night in your head.
“The Monday morning meetings, I think Earl [Leggett] said maybe five positive things to me in six years, seven years in the meetings. I was Earl’s guy, and there were times when it really ended up happening this way; fights would near break out in the meeting room, in the coaches’ meeting room at night because of something I did at practice.”
If Crosby stays healthy, he could be the next Raiders defensive lineman to join Long in the Hall of Fame.