Raiders star DE Maxx Crosby speaks out amid growing tension with Las Vegas, trade buzz

Maxx Crosby may have indirectly addressed his ongoing standoff with the Las Vegas Raiders, who have ruled the star defensive end out for the remainder of the season.

Crosby, who has been playing through a knee injury since Week 9, reportedly stormed out of the Raiders’ team facility upon being told that he was being shut down. On Monday, Crosby appeared on the “Let’s Go!” podcast about his approach to the game of football.

While Crosby was not asked directly about his lingering frustration with the Raiders over their decision to end his season, the Pro Bowler’s words sounded like an veiled response to the move.

“For me, my love for the game has been since the day I started, since I could remember,” Crosby told Jim Gray, via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “My whole life has been football and sports. That has been my obsession since I was a little kid. Yeah, I’ve always — I mean, I’m an addict to the core. I’ve had an obsessive mindset and that addictive personality my whole life.

“But when it comes to football, there’s certain things that I truly believe in, and I feel like there’s core principles that you gotta live by, and there’s a certain way the game needs to be played. And there’s a certain approach that you have when you go into the field. And the way you look at it, from my perspective, is you play to win. You play for your teammates, you put everything you have into the game, no matter what it is. There’s gonna be bumps and bruises. You’re gonna be banged up. That is a part of the game and the nature of the beast.”

Crosby added that he treats the game of football as his “whole life.” With his mindset about the sport, it’s no surprise that Crosby was furious about having his season cut short.

Raiders head coach Pete Carroll backed Crosby last week, stating that he agreed “a thousand percent” with how his star has responded to the Raiders opting to sit him. Despite Carroll’s support and some shots fired on social media, Crosby remained sidelined for Las Vegas’ Week 17 loss to the New York Giants — an all-important result for the Raiders’ draft positioning.