Raiders' Crosby downplays pushing coach Caldwell: 'That's my guy'

Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby insists there's no bad blood between him and linebackers coach Mike Caldwell.

Crosby was seen pushing Caldwell on the sideline during the team's Week 6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he downplayed the shove after the game and said it wasn't on his mind.

"I'm not even thinking about it," Crosby told reporters, according to Jesse Merrick of KSNV News.

"Mike Caldwell's a great dude. We have a great relationship, and we do that all the time. People look at it, 'Oh, they're losing, and then Maxx pushes him,' That's how we play football. We're grown men, we're alpha males, we don't greet each other the same."

Caldwell, 53, was hired by head coach Antonio Pierce this offseason after spending the previous two years as the Jacksonville Jaguars' defensive coordinator. The Middle Tennessee State product spent 11 years in the NFL after entering the league as a third-round pick in 1993.

The push occurred after Crosby shared a sack with John Jenkins late in the game. He finished the contest with a half-sack, two tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits while playing 94% of the defensive snaps.

"He was hyping me up, and I hyped him up," Crosby said. "We're down, it just showed we're not quitting ... I love Mike Caldwell ... that's my guy.

He added: "There's zero ... it's completely made up out of dust. The camera, they made it look bad. It looked like I was throwing him out of the club, but that was not what happened at all."

Las Vegas lost its second consecutive game on Sunday and was defeated in three of its last four contests. The club owns a minus-10 turnover differential, which ranks last in the league.

The Raiders will face off against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7.