Justin Fields discusses the Bears-Packers rivalry and Aaron Rodgers

LAKE FOREST – Last year, the conversation before the Bears’ first meeting with Green Bay in his rookie season was all about getting to know about one of American sports most storied rivalries.

It’s a little different in 2022 for Justin Fields since he got to experience it twice as the starter during the 2021 season. It wasn’t a necessarily positive experience for him, which has been the case for a number of Bears’ quarterbacks over the past two decades, as the team lost both contests by double digits.

But it did give Fields an idea of the significance of the rivalry to those in and out of Halas Hall.

“It means a lot to us as a team, the fan base, the people upstairs. It just means a lot to everyone in the building,” said Fields.

In his first match-up with Green Bay, he was 16-for-27 for 174 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a 24-14 loss at Soldier Field on October 17th. On December 12th, in his first trip to Lambeau Field, the quarterback was 18-of-33 for 224 yards with two touchdowns compared to two interceptions in a 45-30.

Sunday night’s contest is not only the third for Fields against the Packers but also opposite reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, who is one of the best quarterbacks in this generation of the league. Fields said there are things about his game that he can use as lessons for himself as he continues to grow in the professional game.

“Just looking at things that he does well. Get the ball out fast, just his footwork, he’s great at that,” said Fields of Rodgers. “He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback, so there’s a lot of things that I can take from his game to try to incorporate into my game.”

Fields will face a secondary and a defense that had a rough day in general in their opener against the Vikings. Kirk Cousins threw for 277 yards and a pair of scores against the Packers in a 23-7 win in Minneapolis and the Bears’ signalcaller knows Green Bay will be a determined group at 7:20 PM Sunday.

“I think we know that’s not the product that they wanted to put on the field or put on tape so we know this week they’re gonna come with something to prove just because they didn’t have the game they wanted to have last week,” said Fields. “We’re prepared for that. They’re probably not going to make as many mistakes as they did last week so we’re just going to have to come out with a fast start and just put points on the board.”

See a full preview of the Bears-Packers match-up on “The 9-Yard LIne” from WGN News Now at 3:30 PM on Friday at WGNTV.com