Raiders need other D-linemen to ‘step up’ with Crosby nursing high ankle sprain

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce vowed to run tough practices in the aftermath of Sunday’s loss to the Panthers and lived up to his word Wednesday as the team began preparations for a Week 4 game hosting the Cleveland Browns.

Players flew around the field during the media-viewing portion at the start of the session with the defensive line particularly making it a point to embrace the fast pace. At the conclusion of stretching exercises, the whole unit sprinted to their spot in the corner of the far-west practice field at team headquarters for positional drills.

There was only one thing noticeably missing — the player who’s typically in front leading the charge. Edge rusher Maxx Crosby didn’t practice Wednesday following the Panthers’ game where he played in relatively limited fashion with a high ankle sprain.

“Maxx gave us everything he had,” Pierce said before practice. “He’s done that each and every week since I’ve been here, since I was watching from afar. You can never question his passion, his desire, his will to win for the organization. That just needs to be matched amongst the rest of the team and the defense. This is another week that’s a great opportunity for guys to step up, and with Maxx, we’ll see what happens.”

That might sound ominous as it pertains to Crosby’s status against the Browns but, rest assured, he will play if it’s at all possible. The 27-year-old is one of the NFL’s most notable current iron men, having not missed a game since he came into the league as a rookie fourth-round pick in 2019.

That includes his second season, and first in Las Vegas, where he played through a pair of injuries that required surgery despite getting advice to sit out the end of the year. And Crosby described himself as in more pain late last season where he again put off surgery and even played in a Week 12 loss to the Chiefs despite not practicing and having been hospitalized during the week.

Crosby played 49 snaps in that game despite being listed as “doubtful” going in, making him the only player in the league to have played through the tag in the last five years.

That was the last time he played a smaller percentage of snaps (60%) than he did against the Panthers with 82%.

Crosby had to come out for a couple early series on Sunday, and never looked fully like himself with only one solo tackle and a pass defended on a screen.

“We didn’t play bad because Maxx wasn’t like Maxx (against the Panthers),” Pierce said. “Maxx at 80 percent is still a lot better than any defensive end in the National Football League. So, I think just for all of us, it's just doing our job, not getting frustrated with a play or two here and letting that go.”

The concern against the Browns shouldn’t be Crosby’s availability but rather his ability to impact the game as significantly as the Raiders have grown accustomed to him doing.

Las Vegas badly needed someone to pick up the slack with Crosby hobbled against the Panthers, and it didn’t happen. Given the usual four-week minimum healing timetable for his injury and the fact that he’s not practicing, the Raiders will be searching for a similar solution against the Browns.

Pierce might be challenging other players on the roster, but Crosby is not. After the loss to the Panthers, he said he was putting it on himself to improve even as he received treatment on his ankle.

“It’s (expletive) but I’ll be good,” Crosby said. “I’ll be better. We’ll be fine.”

The obvious candidate to elevate while Crosby recovers is defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who became the team’s highest-paid defensive player when he signed a four-year, $110 million deal in free agency this spring.

The 28-year-old has not been part of the problem of a defense that’s sitting 29^th in the NFL in giving up 6.1 yards per play, but he also hasn’t played up to his superstar expectations either. So far, Wilkins has a half sack — split with edge rusher Charles Snowden against the Panthers — and two quarterback hits.

He’s yet to have registered a tackle for loss, which might quietly be Crosby’s biggest asset as he’s led the league in the category in each of the last two seasons with 23 TFLs in 2023 and 22 in 2022.

“I'm not just saying this, but I'm not really a stat guy per se,” Wilkins said. “I'm always just about doing whatever it takes for the team to win. So, that's always been my approach, really my whole professional career, and I just want to be able to make a difference every time I'm out there on the field, whatever that means or whatever that takes.”

On the opposite end of the line to Crosby, Las Vegas desperately needs someone to emerge as a difference-maker. Malcolm Koonce was slated to be the Raiders’ other starting edge rusher but he went down with a knee injury in a Week 1 practice and is now out for the season.

Las Vegas has turned to a rotation including 2023 first-round draft pick Tyree Wilson as well as a pair of overlooked players previously discarded by a pair of other teams, Snowden and Janarius Robinson.

Wilson has been frustratingly on and off the field with his own injury concerns, while defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said two weeks ago that he was stressing only fundamentals to the latter two players. He was coaching Snowden and Robinson to fill their gaps and not fret about rushing the passer yet.

Las Vegas no longer has that luxury of patience if Crosby is a step or two slower.

Starting quarterback is the most irreplaceable player for most NFL teams, but there’s an argument to be made that it’s actually Crosby for the Raiders. Neither current starting quarterback Gardner Minshew nor backup Aidan O’Connell separated themselves much during a training camp competition, and some still believe the latter is the better option.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas went to a defense-first philosophy this season with the thought that Crosby would guide it.

He will remain the heart of the team regardless of his injury status, but it’s pumping a little slower than normal for now. Crosby probably isn’t going to be 100% for a while, and the Raiders must find a better way to manage that than they did against the Panthers.

“It’s the NFL: If you don’t play your best or aren’t ready to go, that’s going to happen,” Crosby said of the Panthers’ loss. “I don’t know what to attribute that to. It’s a full roster of guys so we’ve got to look in the mirror, everybody’s got to continue looking better. It’s not the end of the world but it’s a wake-up call. We’ve got to be better, period.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or