HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders have decided to bench defensive end Maxx Crosby for Sunday's home game against the New York Giants in a matchup of teams with the NFL's worst records.
The loser has the inside track to the top overall draft pick, and the Raiders will be resting other key players this week.
Tight end Brock Bowers (knee) and safety Jeremy Chinn (back) were placed on season-ending injured reserve on Wednesday. Bowers is a two-time Pro Bowler who earned first-team All-Pro honors last season.
Crosby has a knee injury that has led to him missing numerous practices this season, but he has started every game. Crosby left the team facility after the Raiders informed him of the decision.
“After an evaluation we did Monday or Tuesday, it just looks too bad,” coach Pete Carroll said Friday. “He didn't want to take the news like that and I didn't want to take the news like that, so we worked our way through to get to this point. He's been practicing on Fridays. If we had let him, he would've gone out there and he would not have hesitated, but he knows that he's banged up.”
Carroll said he expected Crosby's negative reaction to the decision.
“He's been fighting his (butt) off the whole time,” Carroll said. “He's as good a competitor as you can be. You can't battle more than he's battled. He'd do anything to be able to be playing.”
Carroll said he didn't know if Crosby would return next week for the season finale against Kansas City, but acknowledged it was possible that Crosby would also miss that game.
The Raiders and Giants each head into their meeting with 2-13 records. Las Vegas could use the top pick on a quarterback, such as Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, in hopes of addressing a longtime need for an organization that has gone more than two decades without a playoff victory.
Crosby is one of the league's top pass rushers. He has 10 sacks and a career-high 28 tackles for loss this season. Crosby has recorded double-digit sacks three of the past four seasons.
Crosby made clear earlier this week that winning was more important than getting the top draft selection.
“I don’t give a (expletive) about the pick,” Crosby said at the time. “I don’t play for that. That’s not my job. My job is to be the best defensive end in the world, and that’s what I focus on every day and being a great leader and being an influence and on being that guy on a consistent basis for my team. The front office, the coaches, they do that.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) walks on the field during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — No rookie quarterback has started more games or thrown for more yards than the Tennessee Titans' Cam Ward. None of the eight rookie quarterbacks to start this season has more wins than Tyler Shough for the New Orleans Saints.
On Sunday, they meet in the third game this season featuring two rookie quarterbacks.
Ward beat Shedeur Sanders when the Titans topped Cleveland on Dec. 7, and Shough’s Saints beat the Jets 29-6 with Brady Cook last week.
“Got a chance to play against him in college,” Ward said of a shootout win last year when he was with Miami and Shough with Louisville. “Real good quarterback, throwing the ball, winning from the pocket, got a chance to be around him in a draft. So he’s a fun guy to watch. He’s someone that I’ve always rooted for. I’m excited that we get a chance to go against each other.”
The No. 1 overall draft pick is focused more on trying to string together consecutive home wins for the Titans (3-12) in their home finale after a 26-9 win over Kansas City last week. This franchise hasn't won back-to-back games since November 2022.
“Just to end off the home season the right way for the fans, to get us to win at home and be able to be explosive on offense and be able to stop people on defense,” Ward said.
The Saints started 1-7 and were 2-10 before winning three straight with Shough. The 40th pick overall out of Louisville now is 4-3 as a starter. Shough said he loves Ward as another quarterback who played at three different colleges before arriving in the NFL.
“He’s doing an incredible job this year, everything that he’s doing for that team playmaking wise,” Shough said. "So just a huge fan of his.”
Both quarterbacks have dealt with challenging seasons. The Titans fired coach Brian Callahan after six games, turning the team over to interim coach Mike McCoy. Kellen Moore is finishing his first season coaching the Saints, who also are rebuilding.
“We want to finish this thing off as well as we possibly can,” Moore said.
A quarterback switch hasn't been an issue for the Saints’ two most productive receivers. Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson are having career years.
Olave is a 2022 first-round pick who missed nine games season because concussions had the wideout contemplating retirement at age 24. Continuing to play has paid off with 92 catches for 1,044 yards and eight TDs this season — all career-highs.
Johnson began as an undrafted receiver in 2020 before the Saints converted him to tight end in 2021. He has 70 catches for 733 yards to go with three TD catches.
Chimere Dike is the Titans’ first rookie to be a Pro Bowl return specialist since Marc Mariani in 2010. Special teams coordinator John Fassel said getting a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie is “probably just one step below impossible.”
Dike leads the NFL with 2,269 all-purpose yards, 60 kickoff returns, 1,535 kickoff return yards and is one of five with two TDs off punt returns. He ranks fifth among rookie returners since the 1941 season, and his all-purpose yards rank third among rookies all-time, trailing only Tim Brown (2,317 in 1988) and Gale Sayers (2,272 in 1965).
The rookie has impressed Fassel since the season opener, and last week Dike saw a punt hit off a defender making the ball safe for him to return. Fassel said: “That’s like the awareness stuff that I think is really underrated.”
Three veterans are making their presence known for the young Saints, led by Cameron Jordan. The 36-year-old defensive end had two sacks last week, giving him a team-high 8½ and 130 for his 15-year career. He recently passed the career totals of Dwight Freeney (125½), Derrick Thomas (126½) and Rickey Jackson (128).
“These are iconic names,” Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said. “It’s just incredible.”
Taysom Hill, 35, came back Week 5 from a major knee injury in 2024. He accounted for 116 yards as a runner, receiver and passer in last week’s win over the Jets, highlighted by his 38-yard TD pass to Olave.
And Demario Davis, 36, has been in on a team-high 131 tackles, 57 more than any other Saints defender.
The Titans are 3-1 in Tennessee in games featuring a pair of rookie quarterbacks. Marcus Mariota beat Jameis Winston to open the 2015 season, and the Titans split a pair of games Will Levis started in 2023.
The Saints are 1-2 with a loss to San Francisco in 1974 and a loss to Denver and Bo Nix with Spencer Rattler last season.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Chimere Dike catches a pass to score a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore walks on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy questions a call during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, right, celebrates with quarterback Tyler Shough (6) and wide receiver Mason Tipton (15) after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward, center, huddles with teammates before an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
