The fight broke out late in practice during a contentious team period. Crosby hit Cousins' throwing arm twice, and after the second hit, the 37-year-old quarterback had seen enough.
Cousins got in Crosby's face and grabbed his jersey before both exchanged words, with teammates rushing in to pull them apart. No punches were thrown.
The obvious size disparity made the moment even crazier. Crosby is 6-foot-5 and 256 pounds, three inches taller and 42 pounds heavier than Cousins.
Both Players Sat Out The Next Day
Head coach Klint Kubiak didn't let it slide. He held both Cousins and Crosby out of Saturday's practice for violating team rules.
"We have very clear expectations on how we want to practice and how we want to go about our business, and we violated that yesterday, so we held those guys out," Kubiak said. "That's all I'm going to say about it. We addressed it with the team, and we're moving on."
Kirk Cousins and Maxx Crosby got into a "scuffle" at training camp on Friday.
— Wild Card Sports (@wildcardnet) August 7, 2026
Crosby hit Cousins' throwing arm and after the 2nd time, Cousins got into his face, grabbed his collar, and a "shouting match" ensued.
Somebody tell Maxx that Mendoza is NOT READY 😭 pic.twitter.com/5n0qUd3kkY
Kubiak had a more measured read on the fight itself the day it happened, framing it as part of the territory that comes with camp intensity.
"Those are two leaders of our team going at it, so that is part of camp," Kubiak said. "Obviously, if you fight in a game and throw a punch in a game, then you're out of the game. So we've got to be smart and treat it like a game."
Both are expected back at practice Monday.
A Silver Lining For The Rookie
The benching gave first overall pick Fernando Mendoza his first extended look running the starting offense, and he made the most of it.
With Cousins on the sideline, Mendoza threw touchdown passes to tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer and wide receiver Tre Tucker, mixing in some rough moments against the starting defense along with flashes of the mobility that made him a Heisman winner at Indiana.
Tempers flared during the Raiders’ training camp practice Friday.
— ESPN (@espn) August 7, 2026
When DE Maxx Crosby hit Kirk Cousins twice, the 15-year veteran had had enough. Cousins got into Crosby’s face, grabbing the All-Pro’s jersey, while both exchanged words before it was broken up.…
Cousins remains the presumptive Week 1 starter, but the Raiders have made no promises about how long that lasts, and the incident hasn't dampened the locker room's read on Cousins' competitiveness.
Tight end Michael Mayer said he sees it as a positive trait in his quarterback.
"You want him to defend your team," Mayer said. "He's always had that edge since the first day I met him when he came in here."
