Raiders’ Maxx Crosby clears air on rumors about Josh McDaniels getting upset by Antonio Pierce’s comment about the Patriots

Maxx Crosby praised Antonio Pierce saying he's got the back of the team.

Raiders’ Maxx Crosby clears air on rumors about Josh McDaniels getting upset by Antonio Pierce’s comment about the Patriots

Maxx Crosby and Antonio Pierce (Via SI/KSL Sports)

As standing with a losing record, the Las Vegas Raiders have the worst season going on as their challenges didn’t end with the firing of former
head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. Currently, they are ranked at the very bottom of the AFC West with interim head coach Antonio Pierce holding the strings.

However, it looks like Pierce is taking over the team quite well as they won a game on Sunday at a dominating 30-6, against his former team, the New York Giants. With his remarkable victory, the Raiders’ defensive end Maxx Crosby addressed the recent rumour swirling around regarding McDaniels’ comment to Pierce during a team meeting.

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It has been said that during an alleged Raiders meeting, interim coach Pierce shared an instance from his time with the Giants, who upset the New England Patriots by winning Super Bowl XLII. He used this example to motivate the Raiders to compete with any team in the league. However, McDaniels got angry at Pierce and asked him not to speak of the Patriots in such a manner again.

Turns out, this rumour was absolutely false, as DE Crosby himself refuted it saying: 

"I don't know where that came from or where he heard that. He didn't stand up and like… 'AP, you can't talk about the Patriots.' That's false."

Though Crosby denied the rumour, he did mention the meeting where every leader and caption had an open conversation. However, he would have preferred to keep this meeting in-house. As the McDaniels era has ended, it looks like the Raiders have already started moving up the ladder.

What did DE Maxx Crosby say about Raiders interim HC Antonio Pierce?

Interim coach Pierce made quite a notable debut with a dominating victory last Sunday, against the Giants. After an awful season so far, the Raiders have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel, as they celebrate their victory in the locker room, with Pierce who seems to have connected to them.

Antonio Pierce
Antonio Pierce from Raiders’ Sunday game (Via Arizona Dessert Swarm)

While talking on the matter, Crosby also talked about their Sunday win and praised head coach Pierce: 

A guy like AP, you’ve got to respect it. A guy like him who can step in front of the room and demand respect makes everybody else be a little more dialled in, have a little bit of nervousness….but at the same time, you want to play for somebody like that because you know he’s got your back.

The Raiders would next face the New York Jets on the coming Sunday. This game would mark whether the team actually has improved or the Giants simply had an awful game. Standing with a record of 4-5, the Raiders haven’t been knocked out of the playoffs. But if they want to compete in the championships, they cannot afford more losses in the mid-late season.

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