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Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby made a show of support for his current organization by conducting several national media interviews in team gear from the team facility on Friday.
While he took the opportunity to push back against those who have chosen to speak for him this week by suggesting he is pushing to be traded, he never actually said the reports were untrue.
“I just built my dream house before the season and got to move in,” he told NFL Network. “My life is established out here. I’ve got my wife, my daughter and some of my closest people out here as well. So Vegas is my home regardless, no matter what’s going on. I’ll be in this crib the next 15 or 20 years and I love this city. It’s been great to me.”
Jay Glazer, a Fox analyst who is also a close friend and training partner of Crosby, unleashed a firestorm of speculation when he said during a Wednesday interview with Yahoo! Sports that Crosby was still frustrated with the organization and would be demanding a trade this offseason.
“Now I have people that want to speak for me and be my PR reps when I haven’t told them anything,” Crosby said in another interview. “I can’t control what I don’t say.
“I have to unfortunately deal with the repercussions of that, which is a lot of craziness.”
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini also raised eyebrows when she said she has spoken to Crosby about his respect for New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and that Crosby would like to play for him.
The reports have led to players from several NFL teams being asked on radio row whether they would like their teams to trade for Crosby.
Crosby didn’t mention either Russini or Glazer by name, but expressed frustration his name has become such a major topic around Super Bowl week.
“So all the noise, it’s news to me sometimes,” he told Colin Cowherd. “I got up two days ago, I looked at my phone, and all of a sudden now I’ve got a bunch of PR people talking about what Maxx is doing. I just laugh, because if I address it then someone’s going to pick apart what I say there. It’s a lose-lose.”
The most noteworthy development of the day was his choice of attire and location for his appearances, which were in promotion for his underwear brand.
Crosby’s season came to an unceremonious end with two games remaining when the team decided to shut him down ahead of planned offseason knee surgery rather than allowing him to play out the string as the team pursued the No. 1 pick in the draft.
He reiterated Friday he was angry at the situation, but insists the story wasn’t properly relayed.
“Of course I was mad,” he said. “But people tried to make it seem like I stormed out of the building. I communicated with everyone that I needed to go home and that I didn’t want to be a distraction. I didn’t know what to say right then and I didn’t want this to be a bigger thing than it is. They all gave me 100 percent a green light.
“By the time I got home, people were saying I cussed out this person and stormed out or whatever. That’s not coming from me. That’s coming from somebody telling somebody else who wasn’t really there.”
Crosby said last month he hadn’t talked to the team in several weeks as the organization focused on hiring a new head coach.
He has in the past been vocal during those processes about his preferences, but said he was told by people he trusts that it’s better for him to reserve his thoughts on such topics to allow himself to focus on his health, his family and his work on the field.
Crosby, however, laughed that you can create controversy even by not saying anything at all.
So he is choosing to try to work in as much anonymity as possible.
“I’m out here training and rehabbing,” he said. “About to get off the crutches, but I’m still lifting, recovering and rebhabbing. Getting my body work done every day. I’m here at 5:50 in the morning every day.”
He didn’t say whether that would still be the case once the season begins.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.