Maxx Crosby doesn’t need any added motivation going into the 2026 season, but he might have gotten some on Tuesday afternoon, anyway.
Just five days before the regular season opener, Dolphins left tackle Patrick Paul was asked about facing Crosby on Sunday, and the third-year tackle offered a series of comments that his coaches might like to have back.
“I think with him, he’s a dynamic player,” Paul said of Crosby to members of the Miami media on Tuesday.
“So with him, just beating him to the spot, getting your hands on him, getting him off his game. He likes to play with a lot of swagger, so just getting him displaced off his game. Get him off his spots, putting your hands on him, being aggressive and just getting him out of his game. I think once you get him out of his game it’s pretty much it.”
“He’s a high motor player. I think their defense runs off his motor… I feel like he’s a hot head, so a lot of those things you can get into his game with that, but he’s a great player so you just got to stay on it all four quarters.”
Crosby hasn’t talked a lot about the botched trade that brought him back to the Raiders, but there’s no question he is looking forward to proving the Ravens wrong for backing out of the deal.
In July, former Raiders’ defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said he talked to Crosby and offered a little insight into the All-Pro defender’s mindset going into the season.
“Maxx Crosby has a point to prove. He’s a little pissed off,” McCoy said on the Rich Eisen Show.
“Actually, he’s a lot of pissed off. I was just with Maxx in Vegas. He has a point to prove and Maxx is extremely upset and he’s going to have these guys on the mission.”
To that, Eisen asked McCoy who Crosby is upset at.
“He loves the Raiders, for one,” McCoy answered.
“But he was traded. Okay. Then he was given back. So it’s almost like they saying, ‘We don’t really need you, but we need you.’ And then the other team is saying, ‘You just kind of lost a step. We don’t really trust it.’ Maxx is out to prove a point. I’m Maxx Crosby for a reason and he’s going to bring the guys with him.”
Could the Raiders still end up trading Crosby?
A few months ago, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said he thought Crosby might end up being a “Raider for life” but added last month that it will be interesting to see how his future plays out if the Raiders don’t play well in the first half of the season.
“I know a lot of people are thinking that Max Crosby wants to be trading. He wants to be there right now. And I think he’s going to be there,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I think the real question with Maxx Crosby and his future in Vegas comes down to what happens if this team doesn’t perform well. What if there’s a contender out there before the trade deadline that wants to beef up its pass rush? Could we see a team later this season, if the Raiders season is slipping away, make a run at Maxx Crosby? I could see that being a possibility in October. That I see.”
x: @raidersbeat