Maxx Crosby Calls Talk of Raiders Shutting Down Players 'A Lot of Bulls--t'

Even though the Las Vegas Raiders are close to being eliminated from playoff contention, Maxx Crosby doesn't want to hear any talk about being shut down for the rest of the season.

Speaking to reporters as he deals with a knee injury, Crosby called the idea of players sitting out any games if the Raiders are out of contention for anything "a bunch of bulls--t."

"There's a lot of bulls--t going around talking about shutting people down because of this and that," he said. "But that's a bunch of bulls--t. At the end of the day we play and train all year round to play 17 guaranteed, so that's what we plan on doing."

The subject came up because The Athletic's Vic Tafur wrote in an article on Dec. 11 that Las Vegas should protect Crosby from himself by keeping him out of games for the rest of the season.

Tafur also suggested Davante Adams should be shut down "because he has nothing left to play for this season, either."

The Raiders employed this strategy last year with quarterback Derek Carr. He was benched for the final two games of the 2022 season, even though they hadn't been officially eliminated from playoff contention at that point.

Vegas' decision to bench Carr was in part to protect the team from having to pay the injury guarantees in his contract for the 2023 season if something happened to him. He was released in March, with the Raiders only taking a $5.6 million dead cap hit.

There is an argument for the Raiders to hold Adams out of games if he is amenable to it and they want to try trading him in the offseason. There's been no indication he's looking to sit out the remainder of the season at this point.

The Raiders have a legitimate reason they could use to shut down Crosby if they wanted to go in that direction. He's been on the injury report due to a knee issue for most of the season, including sitting out a full week of practice but still playing in Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Crosby has played in all 13 games this season. He's officially listed as questionable for Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

In what has been a disappointing year for the franchise overall, Crosby has been one of the few bright spots. The two-time Pro Bowler is tied for the NFL lead with 18 tackles for loss and tied for third with 13.5 sacks.