Kirk Cousins’ first days around the Raiders have already included a reminder that training camp can turn testy in a hurry.
According to Sam Warren of The Athletic, Cousins and Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby were involved in a minor altercation during Friday’s practice that required coaches and players to step in and separate them. Warren wrote: "Cousins jawed at Crosby before grabbing his collar," and added, "A shouting match ensued before coaches and teammates came in to break things up. Cousins and Crosby continued to throw verbal jabs at each other even as they went their separate ways."
Raiders first-year head coach Klint Kubiak responded by sitting both players out of Saturday’s practice.
"We have very clear expectations on how we want to practice and how we want to go about our business and we violated that yesterday, so held those guys out," Kubiak explained. "Those are two leaders of our team going at it.
So that is part of camp. Obviously, you fight in the game, you throw a punch, you’re out of the game.
So we’ve got to be smart, treat it like a game.”
Cousins arrived in Las Vegas after the Falcons released him following one of the strangest two-year stretches in recent NFL memory. He helped Atlanta jump to a 6-3 start in 2024 and won two Offensive Player of the Week awards in October before suffering an arm injury against the New Orleans Saints.
He tried to play through it, but the results cratered over the next four games. Atlanta eventually benched him after an underwhelming outing in a win over the Raiders late in the season.
Cousins got the job back late in the 2025 season and closed out his Falcons run with four straight wins, though his play still wasn’t strong enough to change Atlanta’s direction. The team moved on and went with Tua Tagovailoa.
Now Cousins is in Las Vegas, where the Raiders drafted former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza No. 1 overall and are leaning on Cousins to help steer the rookie. For the moment, that job has included showing Mendoza exactly what happens when you tangle with Maxx Crosby.
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