Pro Ducks featured in first football game of the year

All-time Oregon great Justin Herbert begins his sixth year in the NFL with a preseason game tonight, the Hall of Fame Game from Canton, Ohio versus Duck teammate Penei Sewell and the Detroit Lions.
All-time Oregon great Justin Herbert begins his sixth year in the NFL with a preseason game tonight, the Hall of Fame Game from Canton, Ohio versus Duck teammate Penei Sewell and the Detroit Lions. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It will be a Pro Duck extravaganza when the Los Angeles Chargers meet the Detroit Lions tonight on NBC at 5 p.m. Pacific in the Hall of Fame Game from Canton, Ohio, the start of preseason play for NFL teams.

Being an exhibition game Justin Herbert and Penei Sewell may take limited snaps, but they'll be in uniform, as well as linebacker Troy Dye and defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell, the third round pick of the Chargers.

Caldwell, 6-1, 340, will line up at nose tackle for LA. Jim Harbaugh and the coaching staff have high hopes he can shore up their run defense, which ranked 14th in the league last season giving up 117.5 yards per game.

Dye played four seasons for the Ducks from 2016-19, a three-time all-conference linebacker who amassed 397 tackles, third on the all-time list at Oregon.

Herbert started four years as the Webfoot quarterback and along with Sewell and Dye, won the 2019-20 Rose Bowl over Wisconsin. As a pro he's thrown for 21,093 yards in his first five seasons with 137 touchdowns.

Penei Sewell won the 2019 Outland Trophy as the country's best interior lineman as a Duck, drafted in the first round by Detroit with the 7th pick overall in 2021, a two-time All-Pro. His current contract with the Lions pays him $26.5 million a year.

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