Gordon: Maxx Crosby prepares for Chiefs, fatherhood
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby’s daughter is due any day now, prompting the exact same question every morning when he arrives at the franchise’s Henderson headquarters.
“Is the baby here?” his teammates ask.
Rest assured, they’ll know when she is.
Ella Rose hasn’t arrived, but Crosby has as one of the NFL’s premier defenders. His breakout campaign last season earned him a four-year contract extension worth up to $94 million, a bargain when considering his dominance this season. The 25-year-old had eight sacks in 17 games last season — and four through four this season, including two last week in a victory over the Broncos.
He also has a league-high eight tackles for loss to go with a Pro Football Focus grade of 90.7, third among edge defenders.
He’s due to disrupt Kansas City’s explosive offense on “Monday Night Football.”
Unless his daughter decides against it.
“I honestly just feel like the universe works in mysterious ways. I feel like it’s going to work out in our favor,” Crosby said. “It’s going to work out the way I want it to work out. I don’t know, though. I can’t control it.”
Repetition key to success
That Crosby cannot, leaving him to compartmentalize the moment he arrives to work. He says he’s “got people ready to call” when the birthing process begins for fiancee Rachel Washburn.
“She’s going to be here whenever she’s ready,” Crosby said.
It’s his job to remain ready for the Chiefs, who pace the AFC with 32.3 points per game and just hung 41 on what was the NFL’s top scoring defense. Their offense under coach Andy Reid — even sans Tyreek Hill — remains one of the most intricate and electric, rife with trickery, motion and the magic of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
To combat such a precise and organized attack, Crosby said he focuses on reading his keys and invoked a quote from former Raiders defensive line coach Rod Marinelli.
“When you see a little, you see a lot. When you see a lot, you see a little,” said Crosby, crediting his approach for his development the past two seasons “For me, when I see a little, I see a lot. I’m going to read my key, and that’s going to tell me what they’re doing.”
By coupling his keys with his relentless motor, he’s keying the Raiders defense under first-year coordinator Patrick Graham, snuffing out running plays as effectively as he corrals quarterbacks.
He has 15 run stops and 16 solo tackles in running situations, leading all defensive ends, per PFF.
“It’s constant, never-ending repetition,” Crosby said. “Every single day, I’m doing the same routine, whether it’s recovery. Whether it’s on the practice field. … I’m here to get better. I’m focused on making the team better. That’s all I’m trying to do.”
Preparing for fatherhood, Chiefs
That routine is due to change in the coming days, albeit once he departs the practice facility and returns to his burgeoning family. Fellow fathers in the locker room have offered bits of advice. Quarterback Derek Carr is a father of four and said “there’s nothing in the world” like parenthood.
“You won’t regret any moment you spend with your wife and your children,” said Carr, paraphrasing a conversation he had with Crosby.
“Him and I are very work-oriented people, and we have to remind ourselves sometimes, ‘Make sure you go home and love on mama. Make sure you come home and love on those babies instead of going straight to work.’”
As he awaits the call, Crosby is continuing to prepare for fatherhood.
For the Chiefs.
For “Monday Night Football.”
“The more people that watch, that’s what I love to be in. I want everyone with their eyes on me because you’ve got 17 opportunities a year,” Crosby said. “We just want to go out there as a team and put on a good performance.”
Whether he’s part of it or not.
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
