While the Bucs’ defense will attempt to stop rookie tight end Brock Bowers on one side of the football on Sunday, the Bucs’ offense will have a tough task of its own facing defensive end Maxx Crosby.

Crosby has emerged as an elite defensive end after being drafted by the Raiders in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Few players know him better on the team than outside linebacker Jose Ramirez, who like Crosby, is an Eastern Michigan alumni. Despite helping Ramirez make it to the league, he won’t be a fan when he sees him this time around.

Jose Ramirez: “Maxx Crosby Is A Real Dude… But I’m Going To Be Rooting On My Dawgs”

Bucs OLB Jose Ramirez – Photo by: USA Today

Jose Ramirez’s time with Eastern Michigan did not overlap with Maxx Crosby’s, as Crosby’s final year was in 2018, while Ramirez joined the team as a freshman in 2019.

Still, the second-year linebacker is a fan of his game.

“Big fan,” Ramirez told Pewter Report. “I ain’t a big fan on Sunday though.”

Crosby enters Week 14 leading the NFL with 16 tackles for loss, a category he has also led the league in during both the 2022 (22 tackles for loss) and 2023 (23 tackles for loss) seasons. Pair that with being a perennial double-dight sacker, and left tackle Tristan Wirfs and right tackle Luke Goedeke will have their hands full keeping him from bringing down quarterback Baker Mayfield.

“I don’t know where he gets that motor,” Wirfs said on Thursday. “You see it all over the tape every week, flying around. It’s insane. Me and Luke got a big test. we do every week. [I’m] going to try and limit how much he touches Baker… We’re going to try not to let him, but great player. Super long, super twitchy, and yeah, his motor is better than anyone.”

Ramirez believes Wirfs and Goedeke will be ready to do their thing after a week of preparation.

“I feel like we’re going to do our thing, you know?” Ramirez said. “We’re going to do what we got to do to be able to stop their team, not just Maxx, but their whole team. We’re going to come on game day and do what we do from practice and keep playing hard.”

Still, game respects game, and the young pass-rusher could not help but admire the work Crosby has done in the league since coming in as an unheralded mid-round draft pick.

Raiders DE Maxx Crosby Photo by: USA Today

“I watch film on him, everything,” Ramirez added. “As soon as I got to Eastern [Michigan], he’s the reason why I went for real. On top of that, even getting to the league, my last year at Eastern giving me tips and stuff like that. He helped me during the draft process and shouted me out. I’m a big fan, he helped me out on the road to the NFL and he is a real individual, a real dude. Shoutout to Maxx, Eastern Alumni, I always like to watch him in the NFL.”

Don’t expect Ramirez to give him any praise or compliments on Sunday afternoon when the Bucs and Raiders square off, though.

“Not this Sunday, I’m going to be watching him, but I’m not rooting him on. In any other game, he’s good, but I’m going to be rooting on my dawgs, the Tampa Bay Bucs. Our outside linebackers, the defense and the offense. Yaya Diaby, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, my boy “Nelly” [Anthony Nelson], [Chris] Bras[well], [Markees] Watts. That’s who I’m going to be cheering on on Sunday. Sunday we have to get after him.”

Key Bucs Weigh In On Maxx Crosby

It was not just Jose Ramirez who weighed in on Maxx Crosby this week. Elite players like Crosby are respected for how they can change the game, and that is something head coach Todd Bowles, offensive coordinator Liam Coen, and quarterback Baker Mayfield each recognize.

“He’s got the full gamut,” Bowles said of Crosby’s dominance. “I mean, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s long, he’s quick, he’s got pass rush moves – he’s got an arsenal that you wouldn’t believe – he’s got a live motor that goes for four quarters. He’s beating singles, he’s beating chips, he’s beating doubles… You’re not going to do anything new, you’ve just got to fight him for four quarters and win your share of battles and try and keep him off the quarterback. He’s a great player.”

Former Rams QB Baker Mayfield and OC Liam Coen – Photo by: USA Today

Coen and Mayfield each saw Crosby back in 2022 when they were with the Rams. It was a game where the star pass rusher made his presence felt with four tackles, three quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, and a sack.

“He doesn’t stop,” Coen said.” He doesn’t stop ever. Our goal this week is, how do we play longer and harder than him? Because he’s going to go every single play through the echo of the whistle. He’s got a ton of respect. I’ve got a ton of respect for him as a player. Baker [Mayfield] had him in 2022 in the first game he ever played [with the Rams] in that game [and] he led a two-minute drive to go win it. We’ve got to have a plan for him in both the run and the pass and also be able to – from a play-calling standpoint – make sure that we’re not letting him influence and affect the game in a negative way.”

Mayfield is a physical player and a trash-talker himself, but a guy like Crosby can get in the head of and rattle anyone.

“Obviously, [he’s] a guy that is the game wrecker on their defense, never stops,” Mayfield said. “He’s always trying to get in the quarterbacks’ head, pushes the boundaries on when the whistle stops and all that but that’s – I’ve played Maxx a bunch and that’s just how it is. Our O-line knows that. Everybody knows that’s his M.O. so we’ll be ready for it.”