Training camp tempers finally boiled over for the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday, and it wasn’t a rookie or a backup who lost his cool. It was Kirk Cousins, the 37-year-old starting quarterback, going face-to-face with Maxx Crosby, the franchise’s best defensive player.
Crosby hit Cousins’ throwing arm twice during the team period at the Raiders’ eighth practice of camp, according to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden. The second hit tipped a Cousins pass into an interception. That’s when the 15-year veteran had seen enough.
Cousins got in Crosby’s face and grabbed his jersey. Crosby, at 6-foot-5 and 256 pounds, has three inches and roughly 40 pounds on Cousins. Neither backed down. Teammates rushed in and pulled the two apart before punches were thrown, according to NFL.com.
Cousins stayed in to finish the drive. Crosby was sent to the sideline.
Kubiak Downplays the Dust-Up
Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak addressed the scuffle after practice, and he wasn’t rattled by it.
“Those are two leaders on our team going at it,” Kubiak said. “Obviously, fighting in a game [or] you throw a punch in a game, you are out of the game. So we got to be smart.”
Kubiak is in his first season as Raiders head coach after winning Super Bowl LX as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator. He and Cousins have history — Kubiak was Cousins’ quarterbacks coach and later his offensive coordinator during their years together with the Minnesota Vikings.
Tight end Michael Mayer, who watched the scuffle unfold, said he was glad to see that competitive streak from his quarterback.
“You want him to defend your team,” Mayer said. “He’s always had [that edge] since the first day I met him when he came in here.”
Crosby Was Already Warned About Hitting the QB
The irony isn’t lost on anyone in Henderson. Crosby said before training camp began that the Raiders’ new coaching staff had specifically warned him about making contact with the quarterback in practice, according to CBS Sports. He acknowledged the habit dates back to his college days at Eastern Michigan, where his aggressiveness got him pulled from practice more than once.
Crosby, for his part, doesn’t apologize for how he plays. He said before camp started this season that pulling back once the ball is in the air just isn’t in his nature.
The scuffle wasn’t an isolated moment on an otherwise quiet Friday. Defensive lineman Jonah Laulu punched second-year right guard Caleb Rogers earlier in the same practice, per ESPN. Mayer shrugged off the physicality as part of the process.
“It’s energy, man,” Mayer said. “We don’t want to be throwing punches, but I think on any padded day of camp there’s going to be some [scuffles].”
Why It Matters for Las Vegas
None of this changes the Raiders’ pecking order. Kubiak named Cousins the starter to open camp over rookie Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, and Friday’s practice did nothing to alter that plan. Cousins signed a deal with Las Vegas this offseason worth up to five years and $172 million, though the guaranteed portion functions closer to a one-year, $20 million contract, according to Yahoo Sports reporting on the terms.
Crosby, meanwhile, is back in Las Vegas after nearly being dealt to the Baltimore Ravens this offseason before that trade fell through.
What Friday really showed is a level of competitiveness the Raiders have lacked. Las Vegas got pushed around too often during a rough 2025 season, and if the quarterback is willing to get physical defending himself in a padded practice, that’s not nothing heading into a year when the roster overhaul — including the addition of running back Ashton Jeanty — will be judged fast by a fan base that’s grown tired of losing seasons.
The Raiders open their division slate against a crowded AFC West that includes the Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos, all of whom made the playoffs last season. Camp scuffles are common this time of year. What matters more is whether the edge both players showed Friday translates once the games count.
