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Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby.
The Las Vegas Raiders caused a stir on Friday when head coach Pete Carroll admitted that defensive end Maxx Crosby is getting shut down for the rest of the season. Reports swirled that the Pro Bowler was not happy with the decision and left the facility upon receiving the news.
This led many to accuse the Raiders of openly tanking to try to get the No. 1 pick. However, it appears to be more complicated than that. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Crosby actually needs surgery, and the reason the Raiders are shutting him down now is so that he can get a head start on the recovery process.
“Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby is expected to need knee surgery that would sideline him into the offseason, league sources told ESPN,” Schefter wrote.
“The Raiders are placing Crosby on injured reserve to begin the process of getting him healthy for 2026.”
Schefter also noted that there was concern around the NFL that the Raiders are taking their tanking too far, but that’s not the case, according to the team.
“Some around the league speculated that competitive balance could be the impetus for these decisions, but the Raiders have stated that the moves are rooted solely in medical purposes,” Schefter wrote.
Raiders Announce 4 Roster Moves
On Saturday, the Raiders made the decision to put Crosby on the Injured Reserve official. They also announced that defensive end Jahfari Harvey has been signed to the active roster to replace Crosby.
Among the announcements was the news that running back Chris Collier and wide receiver Phillip Dorsett have been elevated from the practice squad for the Week 17 game against the New York Giants.
Additionally, the Raiders put out a statement about the Crosby decision.
“We have made the decision to place Maxx Crosby on the Reserve/Injured list for the remainder of the 2025 season,” the team’s statement read. “After deliberate and thorough consultation with multiple top medical professionals, it became clear that this decision is in the best interest of both the franchise and the player. Maxx is the ultimate warrior, and he has fought extremely hard to compete each week with his teammates since injuring his knee mid-season. We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions. He is a true Raider on and off the field — we look forward to his leadership and toughness into 2026 and beyond.”
Carroll Defends Decision
There still remains a chance that Carroll is fired after the season, so he likely didn’t want to tell Crosby he can’t play the final two games. However, he made it clear that Crosby is very injured, and it was the only logical decision for the team to make.
“He knows that he’s banged up, so he’s talking about, ‘I’d like to get out of here.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, get out of here.’ So he took off,” Carroll said Friday. “… This didn’t just spring on him. We’ve been talking about it, and it was exactly what you would think he would do and he should do. I agree with him 1,000 percent on how he responded, and I [would have] responded the same way.”
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
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