Ravens, Bears open preseason

CANTON, Ohio – Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher, two of the NFL’s greatest linebackers, enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week. When their teams meet in Thursday night’s preseason opener, the game could very well honor them by being a defensive battle.

On one hand, the Chicago Bears are installing a new offense under firstyear coach Matt Nagy. On the other side, few if any of the Baltimore Ravens’ starters at the offensive skill positions are likely to get much action.

So if this winds up 10-9 or something similar, well, the smiles on the faces of Lewis and Urlacher might get a bit broader.

Nagy has a second-year quarterback, Mitchell Trubisky, who will be taking his first major steps running the new scheme Nagy brought from Kansas City. He seems unconcerned that the second overall pick in the 2017 draft will be overmatched – even though Trubisky has been an interception machine in practices.

“Our guys have picked up everything that we’ve asked them to do,” Nagy said. “There have been mistakes, but they’re way ahead of the learning curve. So that’s exciting and it tells me that once we get to the regular season we can do more than I initially thought. But we will be growing throughout the season.”

And the preseason.

As for the Ravens, don’t look for Joe Flacco in this one. The Hall of Fame game is an extra exhibition outing for the participants, and provides an opportunity for Baltimore coach John Harbaugh and his staff to look at firstround draft pick Lamar Jackson and veteran Robert Griffin III , who is attempting a comeback after not playing last year.