Details of the first game of the 2022 NFL season have been revealed. On Monday, the league announced that the Las Vegas Raiders will face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday, Aug. 4 at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio for the Hall of Fame Game. It will be the first preseason game of the year and will happen right before the new Pro Football Hall of Fame class gets enshrined.
Both the Raiders and Jaguars are entering new eras. The Raiders recently hired Josh McDaniels as their new head coach after Jon Gruden resigned from the team earlier in the 2021 season. McDaniels is a longtime offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots that was on six Super Bowl-winning teams. He also was the head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2009 to 2010 and offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams in 2011.
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“I’ve just always seen the Patriots as a team that not only adapts from week to week or half to half, but maybe even series to series,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said, per the team’s official website. “I just believe in Josh’s ability to assess a situation and make the changes in real time, and that’s always been something that’s impressed me.”
The Jaguars hired Doug Pederson as their head coach after firing Urban Meyer midway through the 2021 season. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016 to 2020 and led the team to a Super Bowl title in 2017. Pederson takes over a team that has only been to the playoffs three times since 2005.
“I see talent, honestly,” Pederson said, per the Jaguars’ official website. “Is it perfect? No. You see flashes. You see the offense taking strides throughout the course of the year. You see the defense making those strides. Now, it’s about, ‘We’ve got to be consistent every week.’ There has to be consistency. There has to be ownership with that. We’re going to add talent. We’re going to add competition. We’re going to bring value to the roster. Every team does that. We’re no exception to that. But I see talent here.” The Raiders and Jaguars are playing in the Hall of Fame Game to honor three players who are part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2022 — former Raiders standouts Cliff Branch and Richard Seymour and Jaguars legend Tony Boselli.
