Maxx Crosby is a great player stuck on a bad team.
The Las Vegas Raiders sit at 2-10, tied for the worst record in the NFL -- yet another washed-away campaign for the perennial Pro Bowl pass rusher. In his six seasons, the Raiders have had just one winning year, a 10-7 2021. Things have bottomed out this year, with Vegas on pace for its worst record since the 4-12 2018 Raiders -- the year before they drafted Crosby.
The Raiders are currently on an eight-game skid, the longest active losing streak in the NFL.
Crosby told Peter King and Jim Gray on the latest episode of SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Let’s Go! podcast that he gets ticked off by the losing.
"Of course, I'm competitive as they come. I put all my time, and effort, and spirit and soul into this -- into being the best version of myself," he said. "I care about winning more than anything on the planet. So, yeah, there were points in the season where I feel like I was losing my mind. I had to really reset."
The Raiders are 41-54 in Crosby's six seasons.
Despite all the losing, Crosby rarely sits out a snap. He missed the first game of his career in Week 4 due to injury. In the past six games, he's played every single defensive snap (387), per Next Gen Stats, the longest streak of a defensive lineman since at least 2016.
Crosby said that even with the losing, he shows up because that's the type of leader he must be for this squad.
"The best version of me is not just being a great player but a great leader and being the best version of myself, bringing positivity," he said. "Because I can sit around and be negative and be like everybody else in the world right now. ... If I live in that, I'm just like everybody else and I'm not like everybody else. I feel like I'm here for a reason, and I could fall into that trap and be part of the crowd or I can be a leader. And that's what I choose to be. It's a choice. And of course, (the losing) sucks, but I'm going to be the best version of me every single day going forward."
In some other sports, one great player like Crosby could stifle the losing. Unfortunately for the relentless pass rusher, he plays the ultimate team game. Until the Raiders bolster the rest of the roster around him -- particularly the quarterback -- he'll continue to have to lead through the fog of losses.
