Maxx Crosby, who was already a two-time Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro selection within his first four years as a pass rusher for the Raiders, surprised nobody by putting up another career year in 2023. What’s even more impressive about this year’s Pro Bowl season and second-team All-Pro selection is that Crosby accomplished both feats while dealing with a knee injury for most of the season, per Grant Gordon of NFL.com.
This week, Crosby posted a picture of himself following a successful procedure on his left knee. The procedure was reportedly meant clean up an issue with his bursa that Crosby had been dealing with since Week 2 of the 2023 season. That’s not all. The 26-year-old also said recently that he will require thumb surgery. All of this information makes career-highs in tackles (90), sacks (14.5), and tackles for a loss (a league-leading 23) this season all the more impressive.
Elsewhere in Vegas, running back Josh Jacobs saw his own injury information made public earlier this month. After leading the league in rushing yards in 2022, Jacobs’ disappointing 2023 campaign came to an unceremonious end four weeks early, as the 25-year-old missed the final four games of the season with injury.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Jacobs had “been dealing with two deep bone contusions that…restricted his range of motion, preventing him from being cleared by the team medical staff.” Pelissero relays that the issues did not result in any structural damage and that Jacobs should be fully healthy heading into free agency this offseason.
Here are a few other injury updates from around the NFL, starting with an update out of northeast Texas:
- Before Super Wild Card weekend, Cowboys veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore found out that he had suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder. An injury like that is certainly grounds for season-ending surgery that late in the season. Gilmore, though, made the conscious decision to delay surgery, toughing it out for what he hoped would be the second Super Bowl run of his career, per Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News. Gilmore wore a shoulder harness and played 100 percent of the defensive snaps for Dallas in their loss to the Packers. He would’ve done that three more times, if given the opportunity. With the Cowboys’ season now officially ended, Gilmore said that he expected surgery soon, giving him plenty of time to be ready to play in 2024, wherever that may be for the pending free agent.
- Lastly, the Rams saw rookie sensation Kyren Williams suffer a hand injury in last weekend’s loss to the Lions. The running back out of Notre Dame finished the regular season behind only Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry in rushing yards but was forced to exit his team’s playoff game with a broken bone in his hand, according to Rams senior staff writer Stu Jackson. Williams underwent successful surgery on Tuesday of this week and should have plenty of time to recover for his sophomore campaign.