Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher, two of the NFL’s great

CANTON Jaylon Ferguson Baltimore Ravens Jersey , Ohio (AP) — est 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 first-year 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 first-round draft pick Lamar Jackson and veteran Robert Griffin III , who is attempting a comeback after not playing last year.“We have that set,” Harbaugh said of the QB plans for Thursday night. “I never really talk about that. We just go do it. But we have the quarterback rotation set White Jaylon Ferguson Jersey , and then we’ll organize the rest of it … There’ll be some guys who won’t play in that game, probably you might guess the guys who haven’t practiced as much that first week.”Some other things to watch in the Hall of Fame game:A FIFTH GAMEThe extra preseason contest usually gives low draftees, non-draftees and guys trying to catch on an additional chance to show their stuff. This isn’t much different from the final exhibition game, when starters generally sit and others get a last chance to make a roster.“When you have that extra game, the benefit is it gives you more reps for your players,” Nagy said. “The negative is there’s health risks, right? So people can get hurt. There’s a fine balance of both of those and being able to understand which way you want to go, and right now I feel like our plan as a coaching staff for who we want to play and don’t want to play, I feel really good about it.”O-LINE QUESTIONSBoth teams have to find answers regarding their blockers. Baltimore has one of the best in the league in right guard Marshal Yanda, but he’s coming off an injury-ravaged 2017 in which he made it into two games.“That’s why they call it training camp,” Ravens OL coach Joe D’Alessandris said. “You have an idea of who are going to be your so-called projected players and starters, but that could change overnight. The same thing could happen during the season.”Considering how stationary Flacco can be, Baltimore needs to solve the offensive line issues quickly if he is its starter.Trubisky at least can move around, and there’s no question he will be the Bears’ first-stringer. Guard Kyle Long‘s assortment of health issues doesn’t help in the quest to solidify the line.HOMECOMINGThis is sort of a homecoming for Trubisky. He played at North Carolina but is from this area (Mentor, Ohio).“I’m excited. The Hall of Fame game is a great opportunity for this team, and it’s a unique place to place Best Lamar Jackson Jersey ,” he said. “Just going back to the Hall of Fame, I’ll have some family coming to the game. It’ll be great to see some family, and it’s an exciting time for this team.”NATIONAL ANTHEMWith the NFL’s new policy on protocol during the national anthem in limbo as both the league and union discuss it, nothing really has changed from last season. Demonstrations by the players aimed toward awareness of social injustice could occur Thursday night.BETTING LINEWith legal betting on NFL games in some states, there actually is a line on this game: Baltimore by 2 points. How the oddsmakers got there is anyone’s guess considering there are 90 players on each roster and many of them will get on the field.——AP Sports Writer David Ginsburg and freelance writer Gene Chamberlain contributed to this report.—— DENVER (AP) — In no sport but the NFL do players, fans, coaches and general managers annually debate the rules of the game, advocating ways to make pro football better, safer, fairer.Officiating is especially a hot topic around the league after a blown call late in the NFC championship game pretty much cost the New Orleans Saints a trip to the Super Bowl.That capped a season which began with the long-awaited clarification of what constitutes a catch and then was marred by widespread confusion over what exactly is a legal takedown of the quarterback. While defenders learned new ways to tackle to avoid flags for even glancing blows to the helmet, they complained about O-linemen illegally blocking too far downfield in the run-pass option craze that has successfully seeped in from the college game.Giants owner John Mara hears the cries to change the NFL’s replay review system after officials failed to flag the blatant pass interference penalty and a helmet-first hit by the Rams’ Nickell Robey-Coleman deep in Los Angeles territory in the NFC championship match. The non-calls helped Los Angeles force overtime and eventually win the game to reach the Super Bowl, leading to widespread displeasure with the current system regarding coaches’ challenges.Mara said last month at the NFL combine that the powerful competition committee isn’t in a rush to change the replay system.“I just don’t sense a lot of support to use replay to call penalties. I don’t sense a lot of support for the expansion of it, either,” Mara said. “We’re early on, so that might change, but that’s my sense of where we are right now. I’m not saying it won’t change.”The Canadian Football League has allowed pass interference Adult Lamar Jackson Jersey , either called or uncalled, to be reviewed for the last five years. But the NFL has long been reluctant to expand replays for officiating because it would slow games even further.Other major moves will be considered by the 32 owners at the league meetings in Phoenix beginning Sunday.Several teams are proposing big changes to replay and overtime after a season of consistent criticism of officiating and which plays can be challenged or automatically reviewed. Any change requires a 24-vote threshold to pass.Just like the USFL did with the 2-point conversion and other innovations back in the 1980s, the Alliance of American Football’s debut this spring has brought novel ideas, some of which could find their way into the NFL rule book. Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, a staunch advocate for adding more replay reviews to the NFL, is a big fan of the AAF’s “sky judge,” an official watching from the press box level who can help call penalties from a bird’s-eye view.“Look how tough it is for these officials, all right. I know as a coach, what’s the worst spot to watch the game from? Sideline. You see the least amount form the sideline. That’s why you put coaches in the box,” Harbaugh said. “OK. So we’ve got all this technology and the fans actually have a better view of the game from an officiating standpoint than the officials do.“So these clear and obvious mistakes that are inevitably going to get made, it’s not just one play in a championship game; it happens every single week, because the job is so tough and moves so fast and the angles aren’t great,” Harbaugh added. “If we can put somebody up there in the box that has a better angle that can help officiate the game from up there, do that. If we can add more replay, let’s do that.”Harbaugh said the league would save face by fixing a system everyone knows is flawed.“Because at the end of the day it’s about the credibility of the sport, and we can’t have the other leagues outpacing us in terms of use of technology to make sure games are fair and well-officiated Limited Mark Andrews Jersey ,” Harbaugh said. “We have great officials. These guys are incredible with what they do. We’ve also put a lot of rules in place that’ve made it really tough on them. They’ve got a lot on their plate.“So let’s add an official, let’s add two officials, let’s put one up in the box, let’s expand replay if we want. Let’s make sure that at the end of the day the fans walk out of the stadium and walk away from their TV sets knowing that was a good, hard-fought, well-officiated game and the outcome is as it should be and it was correct. The right team won the game.”Players have their own ideas about ways to make the game better.Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said the rules already in place need to be enforced, like flagging O-linemen who block too far downfield on the run-pass option plays that have become all the rage, leading to wide-open tight ends as linebackers come up to play the run.“You can’t have guys 4 or 5 yards downfield and (the quarterback is) still throwing the ball,” Harris said.“They’ve got to figure out the RPO stuff, but let me suggest a better rule,” teammate Von Miller said. “You know how you can’t hit a defenseless receiver coming across the field? I feel like edge rushers should have the same protection from chippers. I feel like it’s not fair.“I’m looking right and I’ve got a receiver that shuffles in and blindsides me while I’m focusing on this play. I actually tore my ACL in a play like that in 2013,” Miller said. “I feel like the chips should be gone. I’m dead serious about that. You see guys get blindsided all the time.”Miller said owners are eager to protect QBs and nowadays great edge rushers are getting paid just like franchise quarterbacks.“We’ve got a lot of star pass rushers. All it takes is one of those plays and boom, that could be it for one of those guys,” Miller said. “This league is all about protecting the quarterbacks. How come they get protection and we don’t?”