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It looks as though a Maxx Crosby injury will cause the Las Vegas Raiders star to experience something new this week when the team faces the Chiefs on Sunday night. He will be watching on the sideline, out with a knee injury.
Crosby is listed as doubtful on the Raiders’ injury report after missing the entire week of practice heading into Sunday.
As the folks at Q4, which provides news and stats for Heavy Sports, wrote: “Crosby failed to practice in any capacity throughout the week and is trending toward his first absence of the season. The star defensive end has 10.5 sacks through 11 games, so if Crosby sits out Sunday, that would likely result in more time for Patrick Mahomes to make plays from the pocket for Kansas City.”
In fact, it would be the first time a Maxx Crosby injury forces him to sit out in his career, a run spanning 77 games since he was drafted in 2019. That includes 70 straight games in the starting lineup.
And if you’re hopeful that “doubtful” does not mean 100% out, that’s true, but players listed as doubtful usually do not play. Per NFL rules, the definition of doubtful has changed from the days when it meant only a 25% chance of playing, to now meaning, “Unlikely to play.”
Maxx Crosby Injury Especially Tough in Chiefs Week
It will be especially unfortunate in that this Maxx Crosby injury will prevent another Patrick Mahomes matchup, and not just because the Raiders are without their top pass-rushing weapon while facing, arguably, the top quarterback in the NFL and perhaps the best overall player in the league.
The intensity of the rivalry between Crosby and Mahomes was on full display during the Netflix program “Quarterback,” which showed a very worked-up Mahomes going after Crosby with trash talk during a Week 5 win in which the Chiefs rallied form a 17-0 deficit to beat the Raiders.
“I mean, I don’t like playing against him because I know what type of player he is and the mindset he comes in with,” Mahomes said this week, per Chiefs Wire. “But, yeah, I don’t talk to a ton of trash. I just try to stay fired up and go out there and win. And he’s the same way. He wants to win as much as anybody. And that’s why I have so much respect for him. But at the end of the day, we’re competing; that’s what competitors do.”
Raiders Need to Summon Energy on Defense
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce certainly is aware of the impact that a Maxx Crosby injury has on the defense. They’ve allowed just 38 points in the three games since Pierce took over as interim coach, and that includes allowing 20 points—and forcing three turnovers—against a high-powered Miami offense.
They’re doing that mostly with mediocre personnel. Except for Crosby, that is. According to Pro Football Focus’ grading system, Crosby is the only player on the Raiders defense who ranks in the Top 10 at his position (he is the No. 4 edge rusher in the league) and one of only two who ranks in the Top 20 (linebacker Robert Spillane is 12th).
But the Raiders defense has a whole is lifted by Crosby’s energy. Pierce knows that.
“I’m going to continue to keep trying to match his energy, but at a game, on that field, on that grass, you saw the effort. The way he plays is reckless,” Pierce said earlier this month. “He gives up his body for his team. It’s contagious, and what we do, and what have done, Patrick Graham and that defensive staff have done an outstanding job of telling everybody, they need to match it. All 11 need to match Maxx Crosby.”
For the first time in five years, though, the Raiders are likely to have to find a way to match that energy from the sideline.
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