Leave it to Kirk Cousins to confront Maxx Crosby toward the end Friday morning of Las Vegas Raiders practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.
As the Raiders tested their two-minute offense with Cousins quaterbacking their starting unit, the star defensive end hit his arm — triggering a testy confrontation. Cousins ran to Crosby and grabbed him by the collar, prompting their teammates to break them up.
Crosby watched the rest of practice as Cousins caught a rhythm with four straight completions.
“That’s training camp,” Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said when asked about the tiff. “Those are two leaders of our team going at it. That is part of camp.”
Also part of camp Friday morning: a dustup in the trenches between guard Caleb Rogers and defensive tackle Jonah Laulu, who responded to a grab with a short right hook. They were also separated before tempers further flared and practice was disrupted.
“Obviously, you fight in a game, you a throw a punch in the game especially, then you’re out of the game,” Kubiak said. “So, we’ve got to be smart and treat it like a game.”
Here are other observations from Friday’s practice:
Cousins intercepted
Cousins hadn’t thrown a pick in 11-on-11 in training camp, but a ravenous Raiders defense got the better of the offense this time around. In a red-zone drill with traffic around him, he fired a pass toward wideout Malik Benson that was jumped by safety Jeremy Chinn for his first interception in 11-on-11.
Flushed from the pocket on the ensuing play, Cousins tried the throw the ball away across its body but it wound up in the hands of cornerback Hezekiah Masses.
Save for pair of interceptions, Cousins was steady, accurate and poised with chunk completions to tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, along with wide receiver Tre Tucker.
More competition on OL
For the second straight practice, Rogers split reps with Jackson Powers-Johnson at right guard. That after Powers-Johnson ran with the first team — featuring Kolton Miller, Spencer Burford, Tyler Linderbaum and DJ Glaze — the first six practices.
“It’s been our plan all along to get those guys mixed in there and competing to see who our best five (linemen are),” Kubiak said.
Rookie runs with burst
Fourth-round draftee Mike Washington Jr. fielded every carry with force, once running over fellow rookie fourth-rounder Jermod McCoy, who was unsuspecting at cornerback. At 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds, Washington blends speed and power — mostly working with the second team behind Raiders star running back Ashton Jeanty.
“Mike is a guy that’s come in, grown a lot since OTAs,” Kubiak said. “Extremely coachable young man. Football is important to him. … I see a self-motivated young man that knows there’s a lot of big football ahead of him and has a long way to go.”
Mayer makes a play
Unbothered by his “busted” nose, Mayer made his biggest play of camp — catching a bomb from Cousins uncontested. A play-action fake helped spring Mayer free well beyond the line of scrimmage and Cousins loaded his throw.
He also had a longer gain on the play after the scuffle between Cousins and Crosby.
Kicker battle continues
Matt Gay and Kansei Matsuzawa had a period unto themselves, trading kicks toward the end of practice. Gay made every field goal he attempted, including one from 50-plus yards. Matsuzawa sandwiched misses from 35ish yards, 40 yards and 60ish yards around a make from 50 yards.
Injuries and absences
Wide receiver Jalen Nailor and defensive end Kwity Paye missed practice, cleaning the way for Benson and defensive end Malcolm Koonce to field first-team reps. Rookie defensive end Keyron Crawford missed practice after colliding Thursday at practice with Koonce.
Newly signed running back Dare Ogunbowale didn’t practice. Tight end Carter Runyon missed his seventh consecutive practice. Wide receiver Dont’e Thornton didn’t finish his second consecutive practice. McCoy returned to practice after sitting out Thursday as the organization planned.
“We had a few guys nicked up and we’re trying to be cautious,” Kubiak said.
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
