NFL announces Hall of Fame Game participants; Jaguars not among them

With no surprise to anyone, the Jacksonville Jaguars will only play four preseason games this season.

The NFL announced that the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game will take place on August 2, 2018 at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio and that next year’s preseason would feature the Baltimore Ravens playing the Chicago Bears.

The Ravens and Bears being locked in to play the first game of the year is good news for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the rest of the league. After all, the 30 teams not to play on Hall of Fame weekend will only have to participate in the usual four preseason games instead of the five that Baltimore and Chicago will now have to play — which means one fewer game to suffer injuries before the regular season even starts.

Jacksonville last played in the Hall of Fame game in 1995, their inaugural season, against the Carolina Panthers, another expansion NFL team who came into the league that year. The Jaguars lost that game 20-14 despite scoring the game’s first touchdown.