Las Vegas Raiders: Is it time to start worrying about Maxx Crosby?

On Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders will come out of their bye week with a home matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings, like the Raiders, have lost their last two games, and both teams are on the brink of being eliminated from playoff contention.

In their last game before the bye week, the Raiders feared that Maxx Crosby would miss the game due to a significant knee injury. However, despite being listed as doubtful for the game, Madd Maxx was in the starting lineup, although you could tell he was hobbled by his knee.

As we inch closer to the Vikings game, there are some signs that he may not be ready to go for this one either, as the team elevated two defensive ends from the practice squad early in the week. If Crosby cannot go, it will severely hinder what the Raiders want to do on the defensive side of the ball, and give the Vikings a clear advantage in the passing game.

Raiders could struggle if Crosby cannot go on Sunday

While Malcolm Koonce has played better coming off the edge, the lack of Crosby will enable Joshua Dobbs to hurt the Raiders with both his arm and his legs. The team has gotten next to nothing from top-10 pick Tyree Wilson this season, and it is times like this when he should be able to step in and at least be competitive.

We will have to wait and see what the injury report looks like for this matchup, and if Crosby cannot go, the focus then shifts to whether or not the team will shut him down for the rest of the season. Crosby has never missed a game in his NFL career, so for him to miss Week 14, that means the injury is much worse than we think.