We investigate the interaction of a xenon Rydberg atom with a metal surface in the presence of an applied electric field. The xenon atom is modeled using a pseudo potential that accounts for the experimentally observed quantum defects. We show that several of the xenon levels exhibit avoided crossings as the atom approaches the surface. We propose that adiabatic and nonadiabatic transitions at such avoided crossings might help explain recent experimental observations involving the scattering of state-selected xenon Rydberg atoms at a metal surface.