The Ravens backed out of a trade for Maxx Crosby in March after the edge rusher failed their physical. The team reportedly was concerned about Crosby’s durability because of a degenerative issue in his knee.
Crosby and the Raiders don’t share those concerns.
He is back with the Raiders and still rehabbing from a January surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Jan. 7. Crosby jogged and stretched with teammates at Wednesday’s OTA before going inside to continue his physical therapy.
Crosby expects to be back soon.
“I’m at the point where I’m almost there, but I forget that I need to relax a little bit, so that’s kind of been the biggest battle right now,” Crosby said, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN.
Crosby played through the left knee injury from Week 7 last season before going on injured reserve on Dec. 27.
“Ultimately, it has probably been the best [rehab] by far, and we’re not even to the finish line,” Crosby said. “It’s been better because I’ve been able to focus on other things. Whether that’s being in the weight room, like I’m moving more weight than I ever have, and doing things in a different way, and being able to get my body the proper rest that it actually needs.
“This has forced me to have to take a step back in certain areas and not run 8,000 yards on the field every single day.”
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby says he has long since moved on from the failed attempt to trade him to the Ravens.
“I don’t really want to talk about that, to be honest. It’s water under the bridge. It’s a long time ago,” Crosby said. “I’m here and I want to be here and I’m excited to be here and I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s water under the bridge.”
The Raiders and Ravens agreed in March to a deal that would have sent Crosby to Baltimore in exchange for two first-round draft picks, but the Ravens nixed the trade after giving Crosby a physical and raising concerns about the health of his knee. Crosby is still rehabbing his knee injury but is attending voluntary offseason work and described himself as “almost back” to being healthy enough to fully participate in practice.
“I want to be out there and be part of the team,” Crosby said. “I just love what I do and I love playing football and I love being on the field.”
The Raiders have a new coaching staff, and Crosby said he’s excited to play for them.
“We have an extremely smart and great leader of men in Klint Kubiak,” Crosby said.
And it’s a coaching staff Crosby is fully committed to playing for, three months after thinking he was on the way out.
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers made five catches for 103 yards in Week 1 of last season, but he injured his knee. He played through it the following three games, making only 14 catches for 122 yards before the Raiders shut him down until Week 9.
Bowers made 64 receptions for 680 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games in 2025, well short of his rookie season.
He is again full speed, while practicing with the team in organized team activities.
“I feel great,” Bowers said Thursday. “I mean, it feels good to be back out there, practicing at full speed. Getting back into football with all the guys again. I had a good offseason working out, staying healthy and trying to get back to 100 percent.”
That is great news for Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza, as the Raiders have their top weapon back in his 2024 form when he earned first-team All-Pro honors.
Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick of this year’s draft, has been making a positive impression on his new offensive coordinator.
While Klint Kubiak is set to call Las Vegas’ offensive plays, first-year OC Andrew Janocko will also be one of the architects of Mendoza’s development.
Janocko said on Thursday that Mendoza’s approach to learning the pro game has been a positive for the club so far.
“I think he’s a guy that wants to come in and grind every day, work,” Janocko said in his press conference. “All three of those guys [Mendoza, Kirk Cousins, Aidan O’Connell] come in every single day and they want to work, they want to learn, they want to be the best in the world. He’s got two guys in the room with him that just set an unbelievable example with the way they work, the way they prepare. So he’s able to see that and grow within himself.”
Though Mendoza will take over as Las Vegas’ QB1 sooner than later, right now the Raiders like that the young QB is interested in going beyond the surface level as he learns the offense.
“I think that’s something we ask from all quarterbacks — is just to know the whys behind every play,” Janocko said. “Know the what, know the whys, and be ready to go above and beyond the Xs and Os at times to make things right. And to know where guys are at and where they’re supposed to be at, so that you can help guys, knowing not [just] your job, but the other 10 jobs as well.”
To that end, Cousins and O’Connell have been a benefit to Mendoza. But the club also has players at different positions to help with that process.
“[G]uys like [center] Tyler Linderbaum [can say] if a young quarterback’s cadence is just a little bit off, that’s great insight for him,” Janocko said.
There’s a lot of time between now and Week 1, let alone the rest of the season. But Mendoza Mendoza appears to have brought plenty to the table since the Raiders made his selection official just over a month ago.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs faces five criminal charges arising from a domestic disturbance over the weekend. Jacobs, through his lawyers, has denied the charges.
“Josh vehemently denies the allegations, and this matter is in the early stages of investigation with important evidence that has not yet been made public,” Jacobs’s Las Vegas-based attorneys said in a statement issued to NFL Media. “We ask for fairness and restraint while the judicial process takes its course.”
The charges are serious: battery/domestic abuse, criminal damage to property/domestic abuse, disorderly conduct/domestic abuse, strangulation and suffocation, and intimidation of a victim.
Jacobs, 28, was a first-round pick of the Raiders in 2019. He signed a four-year, $48 million contract as a free agent with the Packers in 2024.
He led the NFL in rushing in 2022, with 1,653 yards. In 2025, Jacobs gained 929 rushing yards and scored 14 total touchdowns in 15 regular-season games.
