An NFL source trusted his instinct on a “exclusive” about chaos purportedly affecting the Raiders team and standout edge rusher Maxx Crosby.
Unfortunately, the journalist who exaggerated headlines about the Raiders, was compelled to eat humble pie.
Former NFL executive and journalist Michael Lombardi spoke on Pat McAfee's show this week and defended his prior statements concerning the Raiders and Crosby.
Crosby was absent for Week 4's game due to an injury, and Lombardi thought he sensed trouble, stating that Crosby missed the game because of internal strife affecting the team.
Naturally, there's ongoing battle involving Raiders receiver Davante Adams, whose identify persists in main early-season commerce stories.
But together with the injured Crosby in that commotion to draw consideration was a poor alternative, and the previous General Manager answered for his errors.
Lombardi admitted to being mistaken after Crosby's not-so-subtle jab at journalists working with false data.
“Let me confront the elephant in the room: he’s correct, I was incorrect,” Lombardi said on McAfee's present.
“I believed he had a hamstring injury and he’s correct to criticize me because I was mistaken. Just as I criticize individuals whom I think are mistaken. And so I was mistaken on that, I believed he had a hamstring, he had a high-ankle sprain. He didn’t deserve to be on the sideline.”
Just envision being in Crosby's place. He's sidelined with an harm after which accused of inflicting turmoil for his staff.
The Raiders and Crosby had been by no means on the verge of going through rebel, in distinction to Lombardi's earlier assertions.
Lombardi continued, “If you’re going to criticize individuals and you’re accurate, you only possess credibility if you acknowledge when you’re mistaken. That’s what I do. You comment on football. I don’t say everything’s perfect. I criticize, I form an opinion. But when I’m mistaken, I have no issue owning up to it, Pat.”
Crosby, a three-time Pro Bowler carrying a substantial workload for the Raiders line of defense, concluded a four-year, $98.98 million contract extension in 2022.
Lombardi has made some harsh predictions previously, together with a forecast in 2023 that the Arizona Cardinals would half methods with quarterback Kyler Murray for a shift in tradition. Murray nonetheless performs for Arizona one yr later.
Justice was delivered.
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