Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby isn’t just one of the best players on this roster, he is also a true leader on this team. Crosby has made it a point to lead the way and help out his younger teammates, and chief among them is rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
Crosby has been one of many Raiders players who has praised O’Connell throughout the season. The Raiders have turned to him for the remainder of the season, and there will be some growing pains. Some of those came on Sunday when O’Connell threw three interceptions, including a late one to Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey, that sealed the outcome in the Raiders’ 20-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
It would be normal for a young quarterback to blame himself for not coming through in a one-score loss. But Crosby reiterated his faith in O’Connell and revealed the message he said to the Raiders’ young signal caller after the game via Brayden P. Reedy of Sports Illustrated:
“I just told him: ‘What happened in the past doesn’t matter. What happens in the future doesn’t matter. Just be you. Be you right here, right now. Flush everything and just go out there.’ I was like: ‘We believe in you,’ and that’s the truth. Aidan (O’Connell), he’s a young quarterback. It’s his fourth start. We believe in him fully. He made a lot of really good plays.
“There are probably some plays that he wants back. I know he’s super critical, and that’s what you want, guys that are always wanting more. We believe in him 1,000 percent. That just kind of my message to him, it was just like: ‘We believe in you. Just go out there and be you.’ So he moved the ball down the field. They just — Jalen (Ramsey) just ended up making a great play. We love the guys we’ve got in this locker room.”
A short memory is one of the most important characteristics of a good quarterback. Everyone will make mistakes, but the key is not to get too down about them and allow them to affect your next throws going forward.
O’Connell has been praised for his poise, and the fact that superstars like Crosby and Davante Adams have expressed so much faith and belief in him surely helps with his confidence. The next time the Raiders are in that position, the entire team will continue to have faith that O’Connell will come through.
