Kirk Cousins Bum-rushes Maxx Crosby During Raiders Practice

LAS VEGAS — The image of Kirk Cousins as the ultimate Goody Two-shoes preceded his arrival in Las Vegas.

Maybe it’s the fact that he now plays for the Raiders. Maybe Sin City is rubbing off on him. Whatever the reason, Cousins seems to have undergone quite the transformation.

And apparently, he’s ready to kick ass and take names if the situation calls for it.

Even if the name happens to be Maxx Crosby.

The Raiders’ menacing pass rusher got an earful, and nearly a fistful, from the suddenly not-so-mild-mannered Cousins during practice Friday.

Crosby, of course, is no shrinking violet himself. He often rules Raiders practices with an iron fist and a booming voice that can be heard from two or three fields away. Over the years, teammates have generally learned when to steer clear, when to let things go and when it’s probably best not to poke the bear.

Cousins, of all people, is already showing he has no intention of operating by those rules.

That became abundantly clear Friday when a fed-up Cousins got into Crosby’s grill after the Raiders defensive end hit his throwing arm not once, but twice during practice.

Cousins let the first one slide.

The second one?

Not a chance.

Immediately after Crosby again made contact with Cousins’ throwing arm following a pass, the quarterback charged toward him, delivered a not-so-subtle shove to the chest and accompanied it with some choice words and a stern warning to knock it off.

Consider it Cousins’ way of announcing there’s a new sheriff in Las Vegas.

And this one isn’t about to back down from Crosby simply because others have over the years.

A momentarily stunned Crosby quickly went into attack mode himself, getting directly into Cousins’ face. The two continued barking at each other until teammates stepped between them and broke things up.

Nobody threw a punch. Nobody got hurt. And within moments, practice moved on.

But Cousins had already made his point.

Cross the line and there will be a price to pay. And the status, reputation or stardom of the guilty party doesn’t matter in the least.

In fact, there was something encouraging about seeing the Raiders quarterback willing to stand toe-to-toe with the most intimidating player on their roster. Cousins wasn’t looking for a fight. But he certainly wasn’t going to run from one, either.

“That’s our starting quarterback right now, and you want him to defend your team,” Raiders tight end Michael Mayer said. “You want him to have some edge to him, which he does.”

Raiders coach Klint Kubiak took it all in stride.

“That’s training camp,” Kubiak said. “Those are two leaders of our team going at it. That is part of camp.”

Maybe.

But Cousins was delivering a bigger message, and one his young understudy, Fernando Mendoza, would be wise to heed.

This wasn’t really about Cousins versus Crosby. It was about Cousins immediately establishing ownership of the Raiders’ offense and showing the rest of the locker room there are no sacred cows.

Not even Crosby.

As for Crosby, he has always lived by the mantra that respect isn’t given, it’s earned. Sure, things got heated Friday, and maybe there were some frayed feelings in the immediate aftermath.

But once the temperature came down, Crosby had to privately appreciate what Cousins had just shown him.

After spending the last few years going solo into almost every fight he and the Raiders encountered, Crosby finally saw someone else willing to square his shoulders, plant his feet and refuse to give an inch.

And Cousins didn’t do it against some rookie or fringe player.

He did it against Crosby.

There was a message in that, too. Not just to Crosby, but to everyone watching: It’s OK to stand up to the toughest guy in the room.

In fact, sometimes that’s exactly what the toughest guy in the room needs to see.

The scars Crosby carries from years of having to fight seemingly every battle by himself, and wondering whether anyone would be there to have his back when the real brawls started, run so deep that he essentially told the Raiders to trade him in March.

We all know what happened next. The Raiders obliged, sending him to Baltimore for two first-round picks, only for the Ravens to send him right back to Las Vegas over concerns about his knee.

The Raiders team Crosby returned to, however, looked considerably different from the one he had left only days earlier.

Defensive dogs like Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker and Kwity Paye had been added in free agency. Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum brought some badly needed brawn and toughness to the offensive line.

And then came Cousins.

He arrived shortly afterward, essentially to serve as the bridge to Mendoza, the first overall pick in the NFL draft and the player the Raiders believe will eventually become the face of their franchise.

Mentoring Mendoza is obviously part of Cousins’ job. But mentorship isn’t limited to teaching a young quarterback how to read a safety, diagnose a blitz or work through his progressions.

Sometimes it’s showing him what being the quarterback of an NFL team actually looks like.

And that might ultimately be the most valuable lesson Cousins can pass along to Mendoza.

At some point, perhaps sooner rather than later, Cousins will hand the keys to the Raiders’ offense to the 22-year-old rookie. When that happens, Mendoza will need much more than the arm talent, intelligence and poise that convinced the Raiders to make him the first overall pick.

He’ll need command.

The kind that doesn’t come from a playbook or a quarterback meeting room. It comes from carrying yourself in a way that leaves no doubt whose huddle it is, demanding accountability from everyone around you and being willing to confront anyone who threatens the standard you’re trying to establish.

Even when that someone is Maxx Crosby.

Which is why Friday’s confrontation might have been more meaningful than a typical training-camp dustup.

Crosby got evidence that maybe, finally, he doesn’t have to be the only Raider willing to pick a fight when something needs defending.

Mendoza got a front-row seat to what it looks like when a quarterback takes ownership of his team.

And Cousins?

He might only be keeping Mendoza’s seat warm.

But on Friday, he showed the kid exactly how to sit in it.