The NFL's annual Pro Football Hall of Fame preseason game is scheduled to kickoff tonight in Canton, Ohio, featuring the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. The Hall of Fame Game marks the start of the NFL season and kicks off a weekend of Hall of Fame events and inductions of the 2018 HOF class, including former Bears and Ravens linebackers, Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis.
Since tonight's game essentially serves as a fifth preseason contest for both the Bears and Ravens, you won't be seeing many of the starters in the lineup, but football is officially back and that is reason enough to check out the action - even if just for a quarter or two. The game, airing on NBC (live stream via NBC Sports Live and fuboTV), is scheduled to get underway at 8:00pm ET from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, Ohio.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco won't be suiting up for tonight's first preseason game, but Ravens fans will get a chance to see Robert Griffin III and rookie Lamar Jackson, both of whom are battling for the backup QB position on the depth chart. The Ravens finished with a 9-7 record last season and missed out on the playoffs before selecting Jackson out of Louisville with the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2018 Draft.
Like Flacco, Bears starting QB Mitchell Trubisky is likely to watch from the sidelines as well. In his rookie season, Trubisky started in 12 games for the Bears, throwing for 2,193 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Chicago selected Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith with the 8th overall pick in the 2018 draft, but they've yet to sign him "due to language in his contract regarding the new NFL helmet contact rule," according to reports. Smith is the only 2018 first round pick that remains unsigned.