Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby spoke with reporters postgame Sunday, clarifying a sideline incident shown during the Raiders’ 32-13 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
During the contest, Crosby was shown on the CBS broadcast shoving Las Vegas assistant Mike Caldwell, the Raiders’ run game coordinator and linebackers coach, as he returned to the sideline.
Crosby posted on social media following the game, addressing the situation.
“Mike Caldwell Is My Guy. One Of The Best People In The Business. That’s A Love Push, Stop Reaching,” he wrote.
Mike Caldwell Is My Guy. One Of The Best People In The Business. Thats A Love Push, Stop Reaching. #RN4L
— Maxx Crosby (@CrosbyMaxx) October 13, 2024
He later reiterated his comments following the loss — during which the Raiders trailed by as many as 22 points midway through the fourth quarter — with a group of reporters.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not even thinking about it, and then all the sudden I have my phone blowing up as I’m in the cold tub trying to get ready for next week already,” Crosby said.
“And people, you know how they do it, they just spin narratives. Mike Caldwell is a great dude, we have a great relationship and we do that all the time. It’s like, you know, people look at it, ‘Oh they’re losing and then Maxx pushes him.’ That’s how we play football. We’re grown men. We’re alpha males. We don’t greet each other the same.”
Crosby added that “he was hyping me up and I hyped him up” and “we’re down, but it just showed we’re not quitting.”
“That was literally all it was,” Crosby said.
Crosby then said he would look in every camera as he repeated — “I love Mike Caldwell.”
“That’s my guy,” he said. “That’s all I’m going to say. I love him. There’s literally zero. It’s completely made up out of dust.
“The camera, it made it look bad, it looked like I was throwing him out the club, but that was not what happened at all.”
The Raiders (2-4) dropped a second consecutive defeat with Sunday’s loss to the Steelers.
Crosby had three tackles, two tackles for loss and a 1/2 sack, as well as two quarterback hits. He leads the Raiders with five sacks and seven tackles for loss through Week 6.
Las Vegas is currently last in the AFC West with losses to the Chargers (Week 1) and Broncos (Week 5).
The Raiders’ two wins so far were in Week 2 at Baltimore and Week 4 against Cleveland in their first home win of 2024.
(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
