THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — When Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby and Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers came to blows during a joint practice on Wednesday, there had to be one thought among those associated with both teams.
Here we go again.
But Las Vegas and Los Angeles were able to get through the first day of two workouts without devolving into a repeat of their last farcical sessions together. During a 2021 joint practice, several skirmishes resulted in the second practice being canceled after a melee during a special-teams period. Then-Raiders coach Jon Gruden had to order his team back onto their buses.
“I don’t have enough energy for all that, to be honest with you, but more power to those guys,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford joked when asked about the clash between Crosby and Akers.
“No, I think we all realize we got to get some work done,” Stafford continued. “And that was kind of a one-off thing, and we were able to settle it back down and go play.”
Crosby and Akers fought along the Rams’ sideline at the end of a play during a team period. It looked as if Crosby tried to knock the ball out after they were both out of bounds, and Akers took offense to it.
Punches were thrown, and both teams poured onto the field to break up the two combatants.
“I didn’t see exactly what happened,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “There was a little bit of a little skirmish, but got it separated. It wasn’t an issue and we were able to get everything that we wanted accomplished, and that was the important thing.”
Neither Crosby nor Akers returned to practice after the incident. McVay said there is a zero-tolerance policy for fighting during these practices.
“If you do that, you’re out,” McVay said.
Crosby, who finished sixth in voting for Defensive Player of the Year last season after making 12.5 sacks, defended his conduct leading up to the incident.
“I was just doing what I do,” Crosby said. “He didn’t like that, so, you know, he got what he got. It is what it is.”
Crosby intimated his actions might have been intended to energize his teammates as the Raiders did not look sharp early on.
“I bring that juice every single day, and I want my teammates to feel that,” Crosby said. “If I got to go out there and take matters into my own hands, you know, I can do it in a different way. So that’s what I was trying to do. No matter what, I try to be the light, try to be an example in every single way I can.”
Stafford acknowledged Crosby brings a different intensity in this environment.
“He’s obviously a great player in this league, really competitive guy,” said Stafford, who was part of the 2021 practices. “Fun guy to practice against, he’s bringing the energy down in and down out.”
However, Stafford did take issue with how Crosby chooses to evaluate pass rush reps.
“Anytime he gets within five feet of you, he was yelling ‘sack’ in my face. I mean, I’m not just an absolute statue back there,” Stafford joked.
