In mourning after shooting, NFL kicks off preseason with Hall of Fame Game

The NFL kicks off the 2025 preseason Thursday night with the annual Hall of Fame game

This year, they will do it with heavy hearts after a shooting at the league headquarters in New York City Monday left four people dead

The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions, two playoff teams from a year ago

headline a weekend of festivities at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio

But Monday's tragedy is still affecting league operations. Employees at the league headquarters on Park Avenue in New York City are working remotely through at least next week because the league offices remain closed

Around NFL training camps, the message was uniform. Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam and New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn called it senseless

Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families that have lost their loved ones

And we honor the policemen that also died in the line. line of duty and our prayers with the ones that are injured. It's always tough to hear things like

that and really to try to stay focused, but you have to because you have a job to do, but you

think about the families that go through that and it's tough. It's tough. The NFL vowed to be

resilient in a statement posted on social media Wednesday. We honor the four innocent lives lost

including NYPD officer Diderul Islam, whose heroism will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with the survivors as they begin the difficult journey of physical and emotional recovery The NFL family is resilient and united and together we will find the strength in one another as we heal The league is hoping the healing begins with Thursday opener

Both teams are using the game to take a look at some of the younger players

like Los Angeles quarterback Trey Lance, who will start, and rookie running back Omarion Hampton taking his first NFL snaps

Head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked which he'd like to see more of on Thursday

Better execution or better effort? They're all important, really. I mean, it's like a carpenter

What's more important, the hammer or the saw or the tape measure

I mean, they're all pretty darn important. But, yeah, those that can just go out there and have at it

I'd also put in that high level of what I'm looking for

The Lions are breaking in two new coordinators after the departures of Aaron Glenn to New York

and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. who took the head coach job in Chicago

None of the Lions starters will play, but it's a big moment for quarterbacks Hendon Hooker and Kyle Allen

battling for the backup job, although neither player seemed all that stressed about it

Just playing a good, clean game, executing football, nothing crazy. Same thing I do every day out here at practice

just show up, execute plays that are called, do my job, that's it. The NFL's big weekend continues Saturday in Canton

when defensive back Eric Allen pass rusher Jared Allen tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Sterling Sharp are inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis