Kirk Cousins and Maxx Crosby Get Into Altercation at Raiders Camp: What Really Happened
Kirk Cousins does not usually make training camp headlines for anything other than being on time. This week is different.
The new Las Vegas Raiders quarterback got into a shouting match and near-fight with defensive star Maxx Crosby during Friday’s practice. Both players were held out of Saturday’s session as a discipline measure, though head coach Klint Kubiak said each will be back for Monday’s practice.
Here is what happened. During a team period, Crosby made contact with Cousins twice on his arm, once during a play and once immediately after. Cousins took exception to the second hit, walked up to Crosby, and grabbed his jersey. Words were exchanged. Teammates jumped in to separate them.
Kubiak addressed it after practice with the kind of measured coach-speak you would expect. “Those are two leaders on our team going at it,” he said. “Obviously, fighting in a game, you throw a punch in a game, you are out of the game. So we got to be smart.”
Translation: I want the edge, but I also do not want to lose either of these guys to a preseason ejection.
This is not the Kirk Cousins we’ve come to know over 14 NFL seasons. The version that spent years in Minnesota was famously mild-mannered, the “You Like That!” quote notwithstanding. He does his job, he cashes his checks, and he almost never generates controversy. Grabbing an All-Pro pass rusher’s jersey during camp is a new look.
Which is exactly what tight end Michael Mayer said the Raiders wanted. “You want him to defend your team,” Mayer said. “I like that Cousins has that edge.”
The subplot here is that Cousins signed with the Raiders this offseason as a veteran free agent, moving from Atlanta after a rough two-year stint with the Falcons. His arrival was pitched as a bridge to whoever the Raiders end up with under center long-term. Nobody expected him to be leading with a scowl on Day 1.
Crosby, on the other hand, has always had this edge. He is arguably the most emotional star in the league, a defensive captain who plays every snap like it is Super Bowl Sunday. His feud with Josh McDaniels back in the day is well-documented. Anyone signing on to play offense in a Crosby-led practice knew what was coming.
The good news for the Raiders is that this is a real leadership signal. Cousins showing up on Day 1 and refusing to take shots from Crosby tells the locker room that the quarterback is not just there to collect a check. It also tells Crosby, who is used to bullying scout-team quarterbacks and journeyman starters, that the offense is not going to fold when he starts talking.
The bad news is that any real fight between franchise players is bad for training camp continuity. Kubiak sat both guys out, which is the right move, but it also means missed reps on Saturday for the two most important players on the roster.
The Raiders open the season in a few weeks against the Chargers. By then, this dust-up will either be forgotten or it will be a recurring theme for the season. If Cousins really has an edge now, that is a good story for Las Vegas. If it becomes a locker room issue, Kubiak will have to figure out how to manage it fast.
For now, everyone is back on the practice field Monday. Watch how the first team period unfolds. That will tell you whether this was a one-day flare-up or the start of something bigger.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
