NFL Preseason Schedule 2017: Week 3 TV Coverage, Ticket Info and Key Storylines

The third week of the NFL's preseason is an appetizer to the full course.

It's the game teams use as the final tune-up before the regular season kicks off, giving starters the most snaps of any exhibition week before resting them in the fourth week in the hopes of avoiding injury.

Call it the sampler appetizer—fans of each team get to see the starters for an extended amount of time before also seeing each layer of the depth chart as the coaching staff keeps trying to figure out how to wade through cut days.

Below, let's take a look at the preseason Week 3 slate and top storylines.  

NFL Preseason Week 3 

Thursday, August 24

Miami at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. ET, NFL Network

Carolina at Jacksonville, 7:30 p.m. ET

Friday, August 25

New England at Detroit, 7 p.m. ET

Kansas City at Seattle, 8 p.m. ET, CBS

Saturday, August 26

N.Y. Jets at N.Y. Giants, 7 p.m. ET

Buffalo at Baltimore, 7 p.m. ET

Arizona at Atlanta, 7 p.m. ET

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. ET

Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. ET

Houston at New Orleans, 8 p.m. ET

L.A. Chargers at L.A. Rams, 8 p.m. ET, CBS

Oakland at Dallas, 8 p.m. ET

Green Bay at Denver, 9 p.m. ET

Sunday, August 27

Chicago at Tennessee, 1 p.m. ET, Fox

Cincinnati at Washington, 4:30 p.m. ET, Fox

San Francisco at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET, NBC

Full schedule available at ESPN.com. Live-streaming at NFL.com. Tickets available at StubHub. Bold denotes predicted winner.

Key Storylines

Big-Name Injuries 

As much as the preseason is about the avoidance of injuries, it's been hard to miss some of the recent notables plaguing teams. 

For instance, the situation with Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants. The star wideout took a nasty low hit Monday night against the Cleveland Browns and "could miss a week or two of the regular season," according to sources who spoke with ESPN.com's Dan Graziano and Jordan Raanan.

Beckham isn't the only big name who will miss time during the third week of the preseason. Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman, who rushed for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns a year ago, won't be able to suit up after suffering an injury in practice, according to ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure.

While the injuries to Beckham and Freeman don't sound overly serious, the Cincinnati Bengals and safety Shawn Williams weren't as fortunate. A starter in the secondary next to George Iloka, Williams went down in the team's Week 2 preseason game with a nasty-looking arm injury and will miss four to six weeks with a dislocated elbow, according to Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' official website (via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network).

This is only a small sampling of the injuries sweeping the league right now as players get used to contact again or outright suffer mishaps. More will undoubtedly happen in the third week of action while starters play a healthy dose of snaps, so keep an eye on the injury tracker as the action unfolds. 

Notable Quarterback Battles 

While some teams get ready to go through the paces of a rehearsal ahead of the regular season, others have significant battles to figure out under center. 

Two stick out more than most because of the high-profile nature of the rookies. 

The first centers on the Cleveland Browns, where second-round pick DeShone Kizer will act as starter on Saturday. To make matters wilder, the Browns will look to trade Brock Osweiler, according to a source who spoke with ESPN.com's Pat McManamon. 

"I think he's gotten better each and every week," Browns head coach Hue Jackson said, according to McManamon. "He's showing the characteristics that I look for in a quarterback."

Kizer, who threw for 184 yards and a score in his first preseason game before a ho-hum day in the second, has a chance to cement one of the preseason's biggest quarterback battles over the weekend. 

Mitchell Trubisky of the Chicago Bears might, too. 

Trubisky, the prospect the Bears traded up to No. 2 overall in the draft for so he could likely sit behind $45 million man Mike Glennon, has clearly looked like the better player so far. Through two exhibitions, Trubisky has totaled north of 200 passing yards with two scores. Glennon? The veteran threw an interception on his first drive and tossed another in the red zone a week later. 

According to ESPN.com's Jeff Dickerson, head coach John Fox and the coaching staff will split first-team reps between the two this week: 

Chicago has seemed hesitant to commit to Trubisky fully. The idea of a pressure-free environment while learning for a year sounds good, but winning games in the present is winning games in the present for a team trying to dig itself out of the cellar. 

In Week 3, the most entertaining game might just feature a quarterback battle between a rookie and Glennon as opposed to a team with every starter actually on the field. 

Sunday's Big Slate 

The NFL didn't necessarily save the best for last, but Sunday's slate is a great way for fans to finish off the week.  

Those Bears and the intriguing quarterback battle visit the Tennessee Titans, where Marcus Mariota will look to get the timing down with names like Rishard Matthews and Eric Decker while awaiting the anticipated debut of rookie wideout Corey Davis. 

After, two teams fancying themselves as playoff contenders will collide when the Washington Redskins play host to the Cincinnati Bengals. Washington will keep trying to break in a new-look offense with Terrelle Pryor as the top weapon and Cincinnati will have high-profile rookie running back Joe Mixon on the field. 

Sunday's final game is an encounter between the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings. The visitors aren't exactly turning heads offensively, but they're exciting because of rookie defenders Reuben Foster and Solomon Thomas, especially with the former already earning a starting role, per Cam Inman of the Mercury News:

Minnesota leans the other way, with the defense known for quality play but the offense budding around last year's breakout receiver Adam Thielen, who led the team in receiving with 967 yards and five touchdowns a year ago. 

Also of note is rookie back Dalvin Cook, who led the team in rushing with 49 yards on a 5.7 yard-per-carry average last time out. Sans a notable quarterback battle, the two personify the rest of the Week 3 allure, as teams look to turn corners via one last rehearsal before the regular season. 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com.