3 things to watch for when the Chicago Bears host the Green Bay Packers

Justin Fields throwing the ball well behind a revamped offensive line.

The Bears need quarterback Justin Fields to improve as a passer. Fields has yet to throw for 300 yards in a game. He is electric running the ball.

Towards the end of last season, defenses figured out a way to limit Fields impacting the game when he took off. All teams need to do is make sure they keep their eyes on him and force him to try to go to his check-downs.

Fields has such a penchant for wanting to make a big play that he would often ignore completing those layup types of passes.

General manager Ryan Poles has mandated that he wants to see Fields grow as a passer. Defenses are also going to force Justin to be more of a passer.

He needs to show that he can hit his check-down, that he can process faster, get the ball out of his hand quicker, and avoid taking costly sacks.

Fields was sacked over 50 times last season. A majority of that was because the offensive line was not good. Fields also took some responsibility for how long he held onto the ball. He needs to get better at ripping the ball and throwing with anticipation.

However, having a bad wide receiver group helped contribute to that problem.

The talent around him at wide receiver has been upgraded. He has a legit No. 1 receiver in Moore. Chase Claypool has been able to work with him for the bulk of the offseason. Darnell Mooney is back from a season-ending injury and pass-catching tight end Robert Tonyan was signed in the offseason.

If Fields fails to make progress, you can no longer blame the players around him.

Well, the offensive line is still a concern. Nate Davis was signed in the offseason to start at right guard, and he barely practiced in training camp with an injury. He did not practice on Thursday due to a personal matter.

Teven Jenkins was supposed to start at left guard, but a leg injury has put him on injured reserve with a designation to return to begin the season.

That means the offensive line has to be reshuffled with little time to develop chemistry. Cody Whitehair goes back to left guard after he was scheduled to start at center. Now Lucas Patrick will start at center.

The problem with that is Patrick has been injury-prone with the Bears and when he did play at guard last season, he was not very good.

Fields has a rookie starting at right tackle in first-round pick Darnell Wright. He is extremely talented, but he will have his rookie moments. Braxton Jones is back at left tackle, and he had his problems blocking a simple bull rush during his rookie season last year.

This reshuffling with little practice time is an area to be concerned about especially since the Packers will have Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, and Preston Smith rushing at Fields. Gary is coming off a major knee injury, but he still can be a game-wrecker. Smith is 30 and can still bring consistent pressure. Clark is an absolute beast and a load to block.

The line will need to hold up to keep Fields comfortable. Also, expect the Bears to run screens like they did in the preseason to bring the defense in and then run play-action for some big chunk plays. That means the line has to be able to get to the second level.

If the offensive line can protect and Fields can throw for more than 200 yards, the Chicago Bears have a chance to pull off a Week 1 victory.