It took about two weeks, but the Las Vegas Raiders had their first training camp fight during Friday’s practice, with quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive end Maxx Crosby getting into an altercation toward the end of the session. The Athletic’s Sam Warren detailed how the scuffle came to be, while also noting that no punches were thrown and both players were separated quickly.
“The altercation came as the Raiders lined up for a final team period,” Warren wrote. “Crosby, who’d been dominant all day,
burst off the line to beat Cousins’ protection. Cousins saw Crosby coming and attempted to get the ball out to rookie receiver Malik Benson on a crossing route. But Crosby got his hand up at Cousins’ release point, tipped it and forced the ball to fall short of the intended target.
“Crosby stayed off Cousins’ body, complying with team rules against contacting the quarterback, although he did appear to hit the quarterback’s hand. Crosby had been physical with offensive players earlier in the day and during past practices. Cousins apparently saw this as an opportunity to stick up for his teammates.”
It was also reported that the quarterback threw two interceptions—before bouncing back with a good two-minute drill period—prior to the altercation. So, maybe there was some pent-up aggression at play here.
Head coach Klint Kubiak was asked about the situation between Cousins and Crosby, and Kubiak acknowledged that those two need to be smarter while brushing it off as a minor issue.
“That’s training camp,” the coach said. “Those are two leaders of our team going at it, so that is part of camp. Obviously, if you fight in the game, you throw a punch in the game especially, you’re out of the game. So, we’ve got to be smart and treat it like a game.”
However, this exchange wasn’t the only tussle on Friday. Warren also reported that guard Caleb Rogers and defensive lineman Jonah Laulu got into it, with Rogers grabbing Laulu and the latter throwing a punch. According to Warren, that was also broken up quickly. Kubiak was not asked about that situation specifically, but tight end Michael Mayer was available to the media after practice and shared his thoughts on the scuffles.
“It’s energy, man,” Mayer said. “It’s energy. We don’t want to be throwing punches, but I think on any padded day of camp, there’s going to be some tussles. That’s our starting quarterback right now, and you want him to defend your team, and you want him to have some edge to him, which he does. He always has since the first day I met him when he came in here. So, I don’t want him getting thrown out. I don’t want him getting a flag, nothing like that. But you’ve got to be able to defend yourself.”
So, it sounds like the combination of the Las Vegas heat and the first week of pads raised some tensions on Friday morning.
In Other Raiders’ Links:
- OL/DL notes: S&BP’s Marcus Johnson was also in attendance on Friday and shared some notes about the trenches on his X/Twitter account. One highlight: “JJ Pegues looked explosive, probably the most surprising player for me during the day.”
- Breakout candidates: “Hemingway is an ultra athlete, he’s able to consistently use his first step and second step moves to get upfield and get past the offensive line,” S&BP’s Tristen Kuhn wrote. “…There’s issues as a run defender, where Hemingway has never been good stemming back to South Carolina, but the Raiders should put him in a spot to be a capable pass rusher.”
- Big day for Jack Bech: Warren noted that the wide receiver, who has been a hot topic of discussion during the early stages of training camp, had a pair of touchdowns during 1-on-1s.
- Is sitting Fernando Mendoza the right move?: S&BP’s newest writer, Phil Robinson, explores the topic using minority owner Tom Brady as an example.
