Raiders DE Maxx Crosby’s return: ‘It’s the best feeling on the planet’

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Quarterbacks usually don’t like Maxx Crosby to be this close to them.

However one of the NFL’s fiercest pass rushers made sure this was a friendly visit when he went over to the Raiders’ QBs at Wednesday’s practice.

The quarterbacks were just as happy as anyone to have Crosby back on the field even if the first regular-season game was still nearly four months away.

Crosby, who hadn’t missed a start in the four previous seasons, played through an ankle injury he sustained last year in Week 2 at Baltimore and wasn’t the same until finally shutting it down in mid-December to undergo surgery.

“Maxx looks great,” Las Vegas coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s going full speed.”

Taking part in organized team activities was another major step for Crosby, who began the rehabilitation process in December.

“It’s just been incredible being out there with my teammates, being able to just fully be myself, not hesitate on any type of cut and just cut it loose,” Crosby said. “It’s the best feeling on the planet. I’m having so much fun out here, just being 100% and no hesitation.”

Crosby’s loss wasn’t the only one for the defensive line.

Tackle Christian Wilkins, signed last offseason to a four-year, $110 million contract, broke his foot in Week 5 and is still trying to come back from that injury.

End Malcolm Koonce, who missed all of the season because of a torn ACL, is closer to a full return, but still is not practicing. Koonce, who signed a one-year, $12 million contract in March, said he expects to return soon.

“We’re in the training room seeing games and seeing bad things play out and stuff like that. … It just didn’t feel good for anybody,” Koonce said of the injuries to the line.

Their injuries made a bad season for the Raiders even worse, their 4-13 record leading to a house cleaning in which coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco were fired.

In came Carroll and GM John Spytek, and many of the questions this week regarded the energy that the 73-year-old coach has brought to the building, which overlooks that much of the reason Pierce was hired last year had to do with his player-friendly style.

Still, there is no question Carroll brings a passion that people more than 40 years his junior can’t match.

One of the few being Crosby.

“I mean he’s finishing 50 yards every single time,” tight end Brock Bowers said. “I’m trying to win every single rep and he does a really good job doing that.”

That high-octane attitude is why Crosby went from a fourth-round draft pick out of Eastern Michigan in 2019 to quickly become a dominant pass rusher. His 52 sacks between that season and 2023 were the league’s fifth-highest total.

He also led the NFL in tackles for loss with 22 in 2022 and 23 a year later.

Then came last season and the early season injury against the Ravens. Crosby tried to play through the pain as he often did with other injuries, but this one was different. The player who seldom came off the field didn’t play at all two weeks later against Cleveland to end his 86-game playing streak.

“Last year was definitely one of the hardest years of my life in general — so many things going on, battling injuries, not being able to be myself at times, I felt like,” Crosby said. “There’s no excuses. It’s tough. It’s part of the game, and that’s what comes with it.”

Crosby has long said he wants to play for the Raiders his entire career, and the club showed him the feeling is mutual by signing him in March to a three-year extension worth $106.5 million, with $91.5 million guaranteed. That deal takes him through 2029.

It was a record contract for a non-quarterback that since has been surpassed by three other players, according to overthecap.com, including ends Myles Garrett of Cleveland and Danielle Hunter of Houston. Cincinnati wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is the other player.

In trying to meet the expectations of the new deal, Crosby will be playing for his third head coach in three years. Crosby has been onboard since Carroll’s hiring and was at the coach’s introductory news conference in January. Carroll even made the point at the presser to talk directly to Crosby.

“It’s a breath of fresh air,” Crosby said. “We’ve been having so much fun and getting better every single day, working our (butts) off. It’s been a hell of a journey so far.”

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