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The Raiders Are Beginning to Mesh Together
Jul 24, 2025; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll during training camp at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders have had a solid training camp, implementing new schemes and more importantly, working on their ability to execute at a high level. Although the Raiders still have issues, their progress as a team is very evident.

Still, up until this week, Las Vegas had only practiced against each other. That changed when the San Francisco 49ers came to town for joint practice and the team's preseason game against each other.

Following joint practice against the 49ers, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby credited his teammates and the 49ers with a productive practice. After a string of productive practices, the Raiders' star defensive end believes his team is coming together.

Crosby's Take

"I think it was another great day of practice. We've been meshing together as a team, building the culture, building who we are and our identity on a daily basis. So getting to do that against somebody else is a lot of fun," Crosby said.

"Competing against somebody else, doing it all together, was definitely a good time. So yeah, lot of respect for Coach [Kyle] Shanahan and those guys. Obviously, the GM, John Lynch, lot of great people over there. It was great to get out there and get after them a little bit." 

Crosby noted how joint practice against an offense like the 49ers' will help him and his teammates. Crosby knows that he will be the focal point of every opposing defense. Joint practice and preseason games will help Crosby and the rest of the Raiders improve.

"Yeah, honestly, it's really just your approach has got to be the same, like you can't go into it second-guessing. You can't be guessing out there. You got to just read your keys and go. Every time you play somebody, every week is going to be different in this league," Crosby said.

"So you got to be able to have a lot of things in your toolbox that you can pull out at certain times, and when you're playing against a scheme like that, Coach [Kyle] Shanahan definitely makes it difficult for defenses, so it makes you better. And so you got to go out there and compete at the highest level and just continue to build your armor."

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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