Injuries are already piling up as the NFL preseason begins

Please, no preseason injuries!

The NFL preseason begins tonight, with the Hall of Fame Game pitting the Baltimore Ravens against the Chicago Bears.

Most of the big-name players will sit out from the game as both teams still have four other preseason games to play before the first regular-season Sunday arrives on Sept. 9. Don’t expect to see Joe Flacco or even Mitchell Trubisky. Instead, it’ll be the young guys and those fighting for their roster lives out on the field. It’ll be a lot like the fourth preseason games of the year, but with even less playing time for the starters.

But regardless of who plays and who doesn’t, let’s just hope there are no injuries. Before any games have been played, at least seven NFL players have already suffered a torn ACL this offseason and more have endured season-ending injuries. On Wednesday the Patriots placed Jordan Matthews on IR and it was confirmed that Packers linebacker Jake Ryan tore his ACL.

Injuries are an inevitable part of football. They happen in practice (as Deshaun Watson and Teddy Bridgewater know all too well) and they happen in games — both meaningless and meaningful. Tonight’s game is as meaningless as they get and it would be nice to see everyone come away healthy.

And beyond tonight, let’s hope we see no (OK, as few as possible) injuries this preseason. Please, injury gods!

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