NFL Hall of Fame game: Start time, how to watch and stream Raiders vs. Jaguars

After a nearly six-month hiatus, NFL football returns tonight. Well, preseason football, anyway.

The NFL preseason officially kicks off Thursday night with the annual Hall of Fame game, featuring the Los Angeles Raiders taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Eagles fans will see a familiar face on the sideline, as Doug Pederson will coach his first game since being hired by the Jaguars back in February.

It’s the first time since 1995 the Jaguars have appeared in the Hall of Fame game, while it’ll be the Raiders fourth time appearing in the annual preseason kickoff. The Eagles have played in the Hall of Fame game four times, most recently in 2006, when the Jeff Garcia-led Birds lost to the Oakland Raiders, 16-10.

» READ MORE: Pro Football Hall of Fame home to numerous Eagles items, including Nick Foles’ helmet and Brian Dawkins’ Bible

One quirk of playing in the Hall of Fame game is that both the Raiders and the Jaguars will end up playing four exhibition games, since the match-up is scheduled a week before the league’s three-week preseason begins. As a result, don’t expect many starters from either team to see much playing time Thursday night, including Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, whom Pederson ruled out earlier this week.

Eagles fans will have to wait another week to watch the Birds, who begin their preseason on Friday, Aug. 12 against the New York Jets at Lincoln Financial Field. The Linc will also host the Eagles one and only open practice Sunday, Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, with benefits going to the Eagles Autism Foundation.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream Thursday night’s Hall of Fame preseason game:

» READ MORE: Eagles fan visiting the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton? Here’s what you need to know.

Tonight’s game marks the debut of NBC’s new Sunday Night Football booth, which features Mike Tirico taking over play-by-play duties for Al Michaels, who will call Thursday Night Football games on Amazon Prime Video. Tirico will be joined in the booth by Cris Collinsworth, who signed a new deal in the offseason that will reportedly keep him with NBC through the 2025 season. On the sideline, Melissa Stark replaces Michele Tafoya, who walked away from the network after the Super Bowl in order to become involved in politics.

Coverage on NBC will begin at 7 p.m. with Football Night in America, hosted by former ESPNer Maria Taylor. She’ll be joined by analysts Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Chris Simms, Jac Collinsworth, and Mike Florio. Making his NFL debut on NBC is former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, who will also provide pregame commentary.

There will soon be eight new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This year’s enshrinement ceremony will take place Saturday, Aug. 6, at noon, and will be televised by both ESPN and the NFL Network. Here is the list of this year’s inductees:

With this year’s class, there are now 362 players, coaches, and administrators that have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Eagles are represented by 12 Hall of Famers who made the primary contributions of their careers in Philadelphia. Other Hall of Famers, such as Terrell Owens and Cris Carter, played for the Eagles but spent the bulk of their careers elsewhere.

The Hall of Famers representing the Eagles are: