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Mike Lombardi floated a conspiracy theory on The Pat McAfee Show after Maxx Crosby was absent from the sidelines when the Raiders faced off against the Browns, and the Las Vegas star was not shy about calling him out while setting the record straight.
There’s only so much you can do to avoid falling victim to an injury when you play football for a living, but Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby managed to do a pretty impressive job doing exactly that before he was forced to sit out a game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4—which he said was the first time he was unable to suit up for since he started playing football as a kid.
Crosby was diagnosed with an ankle sprain and opted to watch the Raiders dispatch the Browns in a 20-16 showdown from his couch as opposed to the stadium after the team’s trainers advised him to stay off of his feet as much as possible in the hopes he’d be healthy enough to return for their game against the Broncos.
However, that didn’t stop Mike Lombardi from floating an alternative explanation during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show last week where he implied Crosby’s no-show was indicative of a rift between the DE and Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, saying, “That tells me something without knowing something.”
“You can’t lie to players and you can’t mislead players..
There seems to be a disconnect between Davante Adams and Antonio Pierce”@mlombardiNFL #PMSLive https://t.co/giYpxjdo99 pic.twitter.com/Qnf5imvVNF
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 3, 2024
Crosby was apparently very aware of those comments based on what he had to say after he made his grand return in his team’s 34-18 loss to the Broncos on Sunday (where he recorded two sacks while talking some hilarious smack to Denver QB Box Nix that admittedly didn’t age well), as he sounded off on Lombardi while stopping short of calling him out by name while speaking with the media after the contest.
“I gotta hear from these clowns on the Pat McAfee show. I’ll take a bullet for them, everyone in this locker room. You think I wanna be anywhere else? I got this tatted on my body.”
Raiders star Maxx Crosby clears the air after recording two sacks in a tough loss to the Broncos.… pic.twitter.com/HqmpGcaNNU
— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) October 7, 2024
Crosby referred to Lombardi as a “clown” over his comments, saying:
“They’re speaking for me, saying I should be on the sideline when I’ve got a high ankle sprain. These clowns are sitting on the couch talking about what I should be doing…
If you speak to me and know what’s going on, then we can have a conversation, but don’t speak on my name when you don’t know what the hell’s going on…
They got their one day of the week where they get to go on The Pat McAfee Show talking about what we should do and you’ve been a GM for one year. It’s embarrassing. Don’t speak for me.”
Dang, Maxx. Tell us how you really feel.