The Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby offered a brief yet telling update on his team’s ongoing head coach search. The star pass rusher has been recovering from ‌recent knee surgery while his team continues exploring head coach options after Pete Carroll’s firing. Turns out the Raiders have kept him completely out of the loop, fueling uncertainty about his relationship with the franchise.

“Not really, no. I haven’t talked to them… not in the last couple of weeks,” he said via ESPN‘s Ryan McFadden on X. “I’m just kind of focused on, like I said, my family and my girls and getting healthy. But yeah, I haven’t talked to them in a while.”

In a video shared by McFadden, Crosby made the honest revelation when asked directly whether the Raiders had kept him informed. Just yesterday, he shared a breakdown of his surgery while appearing on The Rush With Maxx Crosby podcast. The 28-year-old confirmed that he underwent knee surgery earlier this month, performed by renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache. He revealed his rehab began last week and went on to confirm his return timeline.

“We’re going to f–king crush this rehab better than any of the rehabs we’ve done before,” he said on Tuesday. “I know I’ll be back in June, around that time, fully. So, yeah, we got a long road ahead.” 

While Crosby focuses on his health and spends quality time with his family, his situation with the Raiders remains fragile. Rumors of their rift have been picking up steam after his MRI report for the knee raised concerns. While he sustained it during the Week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, he played eight more games afterward. But when the report showed lingering damage, Las Vegas sent him straight to the injured reserve. He missed the final two games, even though he wanted to play.

The player reportedly left the team’s facility in frustration, fanning the flames for a potential split. Currently, he’s in the first year of his three-year, $106.5 million extension. If the Raiders trade him early in the 2026 league year, they would only take a small dead-cap hit of $5.1 million, but any decision after March 17 could lead to a massive penalty. Back at Crosby, his comments come after his team’s latest development in its coach-hunting.

Maxx Crosby’s team takes a major step towards its HC hiring

After parting ways with Pete Carroll, the Raiders are ready to welcome their fourth head coach in four seasons. Roster issues were at the heart of their poor campaign, which ended with a 3-14 record. While promising cap space and draft assets can help them reset, they must also find a head coach who aligns with the front office and guides new and existing talent on the team. This time, the Raiders are going beyond their approach of leaning only on offensive-minded head coaches.

In fact, Los Angeles continued to explore defensive options. It has completed a second round of interviews with defensive coordinators Jesse Minter and Ejiro Evero on January 20. Minter has been serving the Los Angeles Chargers since 2024 after coordinating top-tier defenses at Michigan under head coach Jim Harbaugh. This season, the team ranked fifth in total defense, allowing only 285.2 yards per game. In college football, he helped Michigan win the national championship in 2023.

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On the other hand, Evero has been coaching the Carolina Panthers’ defense for three campaigns. Before this stint, he served the Denver Broncos in 2022 and helped them rank among the top ten units. Furthermore, he was instrumental in the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl LVI run. Other teams that he’s been part of include the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Beyond these two, Las Vegas has interviewed fourteen candidates, including high-profile names like Klint Kubiak, Mike McDaniel, Matt Nagy, and Kevin Stefanski. Earlier, GM John Spytek weighed in on the search, showing utmost patience.

“We’re looking for someone to build this the right way and not think that we’ve got to produce 10 wins or whatever next year,” he said. “…And we’re just going to go open-minded…We want a meticulous build that will set us up for years of success in the future, and we have a great opportunity to do that with everything that we have in front of us right now.”

Las Vegas is undoubtedly desperate for stability right now. And its next hire could finally determine whether this reset actually leads to lasting change.