“I could tell because he was doing it every day in practice,” Crosby said. “A lot of people in the outside world weigh the sacks and stuff like that, which I understand, but when you’re a young rusher, sacks come in bunches. I went through it. Every rusher has. You may be rushing great, but you’re not getting home for some reason. But you can’t stop.
“The average guys will let that affect them. The great ones don’t get discouraged and keep putting in the work regardless of the results. You know that your time is coming, and that’s what I love about Malcolm.”
Crosby doesn’t tell all of his younger teammates that they are going to be great. Different players need different leadership styles, so don’t expect
Tyree Wilson to necessarily get the same treatment as Koonce.
“You can ask Tyree … I treat him a very certain way,” Crosby said with a chuckle. “I am hard on him. I am hard on the young guys. They need that. Because I didn’t have that when I was young. I had to get it from a coach. I had to reach out to
Von Miller and
Aaron Donald, and that’s where I was getting my advice from. So I take this very seriously. Whatever button I have to touch, I am going to do that.”
That coach for Crosby was Brentson Buckner, the Raiders’ defensive line coach his rookie season.
“He was super hard on me, literally to the point where he was trying to break us,” Crosby said. “He pushed me every single day, but that wasn’t something that I wasn’t used to. My dad was my coach when I was little and he was hard as hell on me. … He was loud and demanded for me to work hard, and I appreciate it.”
Rod Marinelli replaced Buckner the next season, and he was no picnic either.
“For a year and a half, I literally thought that he hated me,” Crosby said. “I told him I wanted to be great so he pushed me and coached me like I was Warren Sapp and Julius Peppers. I didn’t get it at the time but I never broke. I never broke no matter what.”
There might have been a small crack or two and he said he’d often come home and vent to his then-fiancee, now-wife Rachel.
“But now I can be a real leader thanks to all these great coaches who pushed me,” Crosby said. “I would never ask my teammates to do something I wouldn’t. They see me running with the defensive backs. They see me putting in the work and that’s important.
“I am trying to make them great.”
Crosby played every snap in an unheard-of 10 games, and the defense was great after Pierce was hired as the interim coach in Week 9. The Raiders allowed just 16 points per game after Pierce took over — the best mark in the
NFL. They were also tied for third in sacks (30) and tied for fifth in turnover margin (plus-6).
What clicked? Players playing more loose after McDaniels left? Did Pierce free up Graham to try more things?
“I think it’s a mixture of all that,” Crosby said. “Being able to just be yourself … the anxiety and all of that was gone. Pat is a great coach and is very intelligent and knows the game in and out. AP tells him all the time, ‘Call that s—. If you believe in it, call that s—.’
“We already know what to do, this is what the call is going to be, and we’re flying. And the coach has got to have that same mentality, to go out there and trust your guys. And that gives players confidence. I feel like AP brought that and there was a complete energy shift.”
Starting with being a NC State guy.
