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t’s almost time for football fans to start clearing their fall calendars.I

The 2023 NFL Draft just took place, and now the league is turning its attention to the next marquee offseason event: the schedule release.

All 272 matchups for the 2023 NFL season have been known since the conclusion of the 2022 regular season. Soon, teams will know the order of their games and be able to map out their road to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.

Here is everything to know for the 2023 NFL schedule release:

When is the NFL schedule release?

The NFL reportedly hopes to unveil its full schedule on Thursday, May 11, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

Related: Everything to know about NFL schedule, how it works

The schedule release has become a primetime event for the league even though it takes place four months before the games actually kick off.

When does the 2023 NFL season start?

The 2023 NFL season will begin on Thursday, Sept. 7.

Who will play in the 2023 NFL Kickoff game?

As the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs are slated to host the first game of the 2023 season.

The Chiefs’ opponent for the 2023 NFL Kickoff game is not yet known, but there is no shortage of intriguing possibilities. Between AFC West rivals, a Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles or an AFC Championship Game rematch against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Chiefs’ 2023 home schedule is loaded with title contenders.

Which NFL teams have international games in 2023?

Speaking of the Chiefs’ schedule, one of their 2023 home games will be played out of the country.

The Chiefs, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans will play international games in 2023. The Chiefs and Patriots will each host a game in Germany, the Bills and Titans will each host one at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London and the Jags will return to Wembley Stadium in the British capital.

Top NFL games for 2023 regular season

Here is a brief rundown of some notable games to watch in 2023:

Is the NFL schedule permanent?

The NFL is not locked into the schedule it releases in May.

Flex scheduling has allowed the league to move games around on Sunday to put its best matchups in the time slots that will draw the biggest audiences. In 2023, flex scheduling is expanding to include Monday Night Football for Weeks 13-17.

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHILADELPHIA -- If Brandon Marsh looks like a guy living his dream on a baseball field, he is.

Back in March, he went 1-for-4 in a soon-to-be-forgotten Grapefruit League game at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. He made a few plays in center field, but nothing out of the ordinary. Afterward, he tossed his bats and glove into his equipment bag and took a shortcut from the dugout to the clubhouse through a dimly-lit tunnel underneath the stands.

He emerged from the darkness with a tune.

“Baseball is fuuuuuuunnnnnnn,” he sang before entering the clubhouse.

This is Marsh.

“We’ve got to be nice to ourselves out here,” Marsh said. “We’ve got to have fun, smile, be energetic. It’s a blessing to wake up every day, throw on a pair of shorts, a really weird T-shirt, a cool pair of shoes and come to the field and play baseball every day. It’s hard to beat that, in my opinion.”

Nobody enjoys being a baseball player more on the Phillies than Marsh, who is batting .326 with a 1.029 OPS this season. This isn’t just one person’s observation, either. It is a widely shared opinion in the Phillies’ clubhouse. Not long ago, several Phillies were asked, “Who in here has the most fun being a baseball player?” Players could define “fun” however they wished.

Garrett Stubbs, Kyle Schwarber and José Alvarado got multiple mentions. So did Josh Harrison, Darick Hall and Rhys Hoskins.

But everybody – everybody – mentioned Marsh, the Phillies’ long-haired, gnarly-bearded outfielder.

Zack Wheeler: “He’s always in a good mood.”

Ranger Suárez: “I think he’s happy because he’s playing, and I think he’s playing because he’s happy.”

Hoskins: “Marshie doesn’t look like it because of his beard and hair, but he’s having so much fun all the time. He’s just always bouncing around and smiling.”

Edmundo Sosa: “The guy is so happy all the time. He’s always smiling. He’s always talking to everyone. He’s always listening to music. He’s never mad.”

Bailey Falter: “He’s just always in a good mood when he comes in here. He’s always ready to go. I feel like ever since we got him, he’s never been in a bad mood.”

Connor Brogdon: “The energy on an everyday basis. The season is a grind, and even at the end, he’s still going strong. It’s genuine excitement. It’s not a front to keep the clubhouse loose.”

Seranthony Domínguez: “He’s crazy.”

Crazy how everybody mentioned the same guy.

So, maybe it's best to consider D'Andre Swift a player who can do a lot of things in an offense. He can be a running back, of course, with breakaway speed and toughness when he takes a handoff. And he can catch the football and be a weapon in the passing game, so that's a piece of his game, too. He can line up around the formation – in the backfield, in the slot, on the perimeter, anywhere, because he has a high football IQ and plays that way.

"I like to think I can help an offense in a lot of ways," he said. "I've been blessed with the ability to catch the football and it's something I work at constantly. I'm doing everything I can to become a better player and help this offense."

Being a Philadelphia Eagle for almost a full week now – the Eagles acquired him via trade with the Detroit Lions on Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft last Saturday – also represents a fresh start for Swift, who played for three seasons with the Lions after they selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

He's home, now a man and veteran of the NFL after growing up in Philadelphia, so it has all come full circle for Swift in his football career.

"It's a blessing and I feel that way," he said. "There is a great feeling in this organization and I'm excited to be here and help this team win."

All of the above, when put together, provides some context into the decision, then, that Swift becomes the Eagles player to wear, for the first time, jersey No. 0 for the 2023 season. You'll remember that the Eagles made the proposal at the recent NFL Annual Meeting to allow teams to grant a player the jersey number given the scarcity of available numbers for 90-man rosters. The proposal passed at the meeting in Phoenix in March and the No. 0 is now available to any player except offensive and defensive linemen.

Swift is that player.

It certainly makes sense for Swift, who wore No. 32 as a member of the Lions. He's a multipurpose weapon in a powerful Eagles offense and, for Swift, everything is new. He's new to the Eagles, returning to his hometown, and it's the perfect celebration of a new beginning.

Here are the initial jersey numbers offered to the Eagles:

Returning Players

DT Noah Elliss – 61 (*Was on Reserve/Non-Football Injury list in 2022)

RB Trey Sermon – 22 (*Was 34)

P Arryn Siposs – 10 (*Was 8)

Veteran Additions

RB Kennedy Brooks – 34

S Terrell Edmunds – 26

S Justin Evans – 30

OL Julian Good-Jones – 77

TE Dalton Keene – 47

QB Marcus Mariota – 8

DB Tristin McCollum – 36

LB Nicholas Morrow – 41

RB Rashaad Penny – 23

DT Kentavius Street – 97

RB D'Andre Swift – 0

CB Greedy Williams – 38

T Jarrid Williams – 73

WR Olamide Zaccheaus – 13

Draft Picks

DT Jalen Carter – 98

LB Nolan Smith – 3

OL Tyler Steen – 56

S Sydney Brown – 43

CB Kelee Ringo – 37

QB Tanner McKee – 10

DT Moro Ojomo – 72

Undrafted Free Agents

CB Mekhi Garner – 46

WR Jadon Haselwood – 87

WR Joseph Ngata – 86

T Chim Okorafor – 79

T Trevor Reid – 74

CB Eli Ricks – 39

TE Brady Russell – 83

LB Ben VanSumeren – 57

P Ty Zentner – 49

PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Schwarber said everything changed on Friday night when he dropped a ball in left-center field, just two pitches into the first inning at Citizens Bank Park.

“I feel like if I catch that ball, it’s a different ballgame,” Schwarber said following the Phillies’ 5-3 loss to the Red Sox. “Wheels was going.”

Phils ace Zack Wheeler had an opportunity to stop the club’s losing streak at four games in the series opener against Boston. The right-hander has stopped plenty of losing streaks over his previous three-plus seasons in Philadelphia.

But Wheeler allowed five runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings as the Phillies lost their fifth straight game to fall to 15-18.

“I kind of pride myself in coming in and shutting that down,” Wheeler said about the losing streak. “It’s frustrating. That’s probably the most frustrating thing out of today. I wasn’t able to stop that.”

The Phillies have been outscored during the losing streak, 45-17. Philadelphia starters have a 9.53 ERA, allowing 24 earned runs in 22 2/3 innings. No starter has allowed fewer than four runs: Bailey Falter on Sunday in Houston (four runs, 4 1/3 innings), Taijuan Walker on Monday in Los Angeles (eight runs in 3 1/3 innings), Matt Strahm on Tuesday (four runs, 3 1/3 innings), Aaron Nola on Wednesday (four runs in 6 1/3 innings) and then Wheeler on Friday.

Wheeler (3-2, 4.26 ERA) and Nola (2-2, 4.64 ERA) have been unable to find their footing through the season’s first 33 games. They have made seven turns through the rotation at this point. They have had quality starts together in just two of those turns.

Boston scored an unearned run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Raimel Tapia hit a fly ball to left-center field to start the game. Schwarber and center fielder Dalton Guthrie converged. Schwarber said he called it first, but he dropped the ball.

“It hit my glove,” he said. “It has to stay in my glove.”

Tapia scored on a two-out single from Rafael Devers. Wheeler allowed four earned runs the rest of the way.

“That just wasn’t a good game for me,” Wheeler said. “I was pulling a lot of fastballs, something was just a little off. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. I threw some good offspeed pitches today, probably some of the best I’ve thrown all year, but my fastball command was off. I couldn’t sink it in to righties. I was pulling the four-seamer a good bit, too.

“It’s a little harder when you don’t have your command.”

The Phillies tied the game in the fourth, when they scored three runs. Bryce Harper, who played in his first home game since Game 5 of the 2022 World Series, got things started with an infield single. The Phils had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth, but Schwarber and Trea Turner each struck out swinging to end the game.

Home-plate umpire Doug Eddings called a 2-1 pitch a strike to Schwarber, although it was off the plate. It evened the count, instead of pushing it to 3-1. Schwarber struck out swinging three pitches later on a slider.

That’s the way things are going lately for Schwarber and the Phillies. Schwarber, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, is batting .183 with a .697 OPS.

“I’m going to keep working,” Schwarber said. “I’ve just got to keep working in the cage. I feel like the cage is kind of the biggest thing and it’s going to set the table, if you just go out there and compete. … I feel like we were playing some pretty good baseball, then obviously got to L.A., got to flush that series.

“If you take away my mistake [in the first inning], I feel like we’re playing a pretty good baseball game there.”

yler Steen was a little frustrated.T

After starting as an offensive tackle at both Vanderbilt and powerhouse Alabama during his college career, Steen arrived in Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl this winter and was playing a lot more guard than he anticipated.

“I don’t think he was entirely pleased with some of the guard stuff,” Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said on a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. “He made that known and someone came to me. I could just see him the first day and he’s kind of wearing it on his face.”

Nagy just asked Steen to trust him. Steen did.

And the next day, after going through a bunch of interviews with teams the previous night, Steen found Nagy to tell him he was right. Every team he spoke with told him how good it was to see him at guard. Steen realized how much the added versatility boosted his draft status.

The Eagles were one of those teams that wanted to see him at guard.

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“Yeah, really valuable,” Eagles GM Howie Roseman said. “You get to see him in the SEC playing tackle, and him going from (Vanderbilt) to Alabama I think was a huge growth, and playing left tackle for the University of Alabama, obviously that's a high-profile position. There have been a lot of NFL players play that position, and you watch him play tackle and he's had success there.

“Then he moved at the Senior Bowl, he played guard. You could see him moving people off the ball, you could see his athleticism in space.”

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In fact, this year’s Senior Bowl helped solidify the Eagles’ evaluations of both third-round picks: Steen and safety Sydney Brown, who were taken back-to-back at 65 and 66.

The Senior Bowl is an important part of the NFL’s pre-draft process and it’s an event the Eagles really care about. As Nagy put it, “It’s real football.”

There are a few benefits to scouting the Senior Bowl and one of the major ones is the opportunity to see players in different situations, schemes or positions than they played in college. That was especially true for both Steen and Brown.

This year’s Senior Bowl had blended coaching staffs made up of the non-playoff NFL teams so it was a slightly more involved process to relay information. Nagy hopped on four different Zoom calls with the teams to give his staff’s evaluations of players and where they saw some position versatility.

For the most part, players are open to showing off their versatility. Occasionally, an agent will reach out to Nagy to make sure their client plays just one position but that didn’t happen with Steen or Brown and it helped their respective draft stocks.

Brown (5-10, 211) was a five-year starter at Illinois but played a ton near the line of scrimmage. The Senior Bowl was a chance to show he could do more than that.

“When you look at Sydney, the way they used him at Illinois, they used him a lot around the box. He would blitz, he'd cover a tight end, he'd play in the run game, so you kind of had an incomplete evaluation,” Roseman said.

“Then the Senior Bowl, which Jim Nagy’s staff did a tremendous job with there, they gave us the opportunity to see him being a post player, playing in the deep path, playing one-on-ones, and you saw the athleticism, and I think that really helped complete our process.”

The Eagles called Brown a “red star” player, meaning he embodies what it means, in their minds, to be a Philadelphia Eagle. The Eagles were passionate about Brown and so was Nagy. The Senior Bowl executive director called Brown one of his favorite guys in the draft and mentioned that to the Eagles when they asked.

That opinion clearly goes beyond the playing field. Nagy loves Brown’s personality, his story and what he’ll bring to the locker room. But he also loves the player. Brown had 10 interceptions, 26 pass breakups and 319 total tackles in his college career.

Nagy said that Brown actually had some experience in man coverage before going to Mobile, which is a good start. Some safeties, he explained, don’t really get to play in man coverage until the Senior Bowl. Where Brown really helped himself that week was proving that he could play with more depth, showing off his range and anticipation.

“I definitely went in with the mindset at the Senior Bowl to say, ‘Hey if I’m better at the end of Day 3 than I was Day 1, then I’m going to be in a good spot by the end of it.’ I was just trying to be the best version of myself each and every day,” Brown said. “I just manifested that mentality throughout the entire week and it kind of came in my favor. I know my ability, I’m confident in what I do. I know what I do well and I know what I need to work on.

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“It was definitely a week that propelled my draft stock and, again, it was just a unique opportunity when you have all the NFL scouts in front of you. I’m glad that the Eagles got their eye on me.”

Steen began his college career at Vanderbilt as a defensive lineman but flipped to offense and was a starter at right tackle before moving to the left side. He finished up his college career at Alabama as the starting left tackle for the Crimson Tide. It’s worth noting that Eagles OL coach Jeff Stoutland has ties to Alabama, so he undoubtedly had a lot of intel on Steen.

Nagy said he thought Steen looked pretty natural on both sides of the offensive line, which isn’t always a given. Sometimes players look out of place on one side or the other. One of the main reasons many projected Steen as a guard was his short arms, which measured at 32 3/4 inches at the combine.

What stood out to Nagy on his first live evaluation of Steen was his body type. Nagy said Steen’s lower body had the size and thickness to move inside. “He’s got a guard body,” Nagy said.

And after a little coaxing, Steen was eager to show off that versatility in Mobile.

“I feel like I could play across the offensive line, so getting the opportunity to play guard at the Senior Bowl was pretty good,” Steen said. “I felt pretty comfortable over there. I took the same approach as playing tackle, and it felt pretty comfortable there.”

The Eagles eventually felt comfortable taking Steen early in the third round and following it up with the next pick by taking Brown. They can thank the Senior Bowl for helping them get there.

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