meanwhile The Bucs defense will try to stop rookie tight end Brock Bowers. On one side of Sunday’s football, the Bucs offense will have the difficult task of facing defensive end Maxx Crosby.
Crosby emerged as an elite defensive end after being selected by the Raiders in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Few players on the team know Crosby as well as outside linebacker Jose Ramirez, a fellow Eastern Michigan graduate. Even though he contributed to Ramirez’s advancement into the league, he probably won’t become a fan when he sees Ramirez next time.
Jose Ramirez: “Max Crosby is a real man…but I’m going to support my daughters.”
Bucks OLB Jose Ramirez – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Jose Ramirez’s tenure at Eastern Michigan did not overlap with Maxx Crosby’s, as Crosby’s final year was 2018, but Ramirez joined the team as a freshman in 2019.
Still, the second-year linebacker is a fan of his game.
“I’m a big fan,” Ramirez told Pewter Report. “But I’m not a big Sunday fan.”
Crosby enters Week 14 He led the NFL with 16 tackles for loss and led the league in both 2022 (22 tackles for loss) and 2023 (23 tackles for loss). Add to that, perennial double-dite football, and left tackle Tristan Wirfs and right tackle Luke Goedeke will have their hands full trying to keep quarterback Baker Mayfield from beating him.
“I don’t know where he got that motor,” Wirfs said Thursday. “Every week you see us jumping all over the tape. It’s insane. It’s been a huge challenge for me and Luke. We do it every week. [I’m] We’re going to try to limit his access to Baker…we’re going to try to not let him, but he’s a great player. Very long, very sensitive, and yes, his motor is better than anyone else’s. ”
Ramirez believes Wirfs and Goedeke will be ready to do their job after a week of preparation.
“We feel like we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do, you know?” Ramirez said. “We’re going to do what we have to do to stop their team, not just Max, but the whole team. We’re going to come on game day and do what we’ve been doing since practice and continue to play hard.”
Still, the game respects the game, and the young pass rusher couldn’t help but admire what Crosby has accomplished in the league since coming in as an unprecedented mid-round draft pick.
Raiders DE Maxx Crosby Photo Credit: USA Today
“I watch all his movies,” Ramirez added. “As soon as we arrived in the East, [Michigan]he’s the reason I went in earnest. In addition to that, he gave me tips and such before I started playing in the league in my last year at Eastern. He helped me through the draft process and gave me a shout out. I’m a huge fan, he helped me get to the NFL, and he’s a real human being, a real guy. We would like to express our gratitude to our Eastern alumnus, Max. I always like watching him in the NFL. ”
Don’t expect Coach Ramirez to praise or praise him on sunday afternoon However, when the Bucks and Raiders faced off.
“Not this Sunday, but I’m going to watch him, but I’m not rooting for him. He’s good in every other game, but I’m going to root for my daughter, the Tampa Bay Bucs. Outside linebacker, defense and offense. Yaya Diaby, Joe Tryon Soyinka, my boy “Nelly.” [Anthony Nelson], [Chris] bra[well], [Markees] Watts. That’s the person I’m rooting for on Sunday. I have to chase him on Sunday. ”
Key Bucks focus on Maxx Crosby
Jose Ramirez wasn’t the only one paying attention to Maxx Crosby this week. Elite players like Crosby are respected for the way they change games, something head coach Todd Bowles, offensive coordinator Liam Cohen and quarterback Baker Mayfield acknowledge.
“He’s got the whole gamut,” Bowles said of Crosby’s advantages. “So he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s long, he’s fast, he’s got pass-rushing moves — he’s got an unbelievable arsenal — he’s a lively guy who keeps running in the fourth quarter. He has a great motor. He has won singles. He’s won the doubles, he’s won the doubles…I’m not going to do anything new. I just have to fight him for four quarters and win my share of battles and keep him away from the quarterback. No. He’s a great player.”
Former Rams QB Baker Mayfield and OC Liam Cohen – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Cohen and Mayfield each met Crosby in 2022 when he was with the Rams. It was a game in which the star pass rusher showed his presence with four tackles, three QB hits, two tackles for loss, and one sack.
“He’s unstoppable,” Cohen said. he never stops. Our goal this week is how to play longer and harder than him. Because he’s going to make every play at the sound of the whistle. He is highly respected. I have a lot of respect for him as a player. baker [Mayfield] Appeared in his first game in 2022 [with the Rams] in that game [and] He led a two-minute drive to win. We have to have a plan for him in both the run and pass and we have to be able to keep him from negatively impacting the game from a play-calling standpoint. ”
Mayfield is a physically strong player and a trash talker himself, but a guy like Crosby can get in anyone’s head and rattle it.
“clearly, [he’s] A game-breaking guy on their defense that never stops,” Mayfield said. “He’s always trying to get inside the quarterback’s head, trying to push the boundaries when the whistle goes down, and everything else, I’ve played with Max a lot and that’s just the way it is. Our O-line knows that. We all know that’s his MO, so we’re going to be ready for it.”
