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Bears 'Confident' Soldier Field Will Be Ready For Bills Game

CHICAGO IL - JANUARY 23:  A general view from the endzone in the NFC Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on January 23 2011 in Chicago Illinois.  (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
CHICAGO IL - JANUARY 23: A general view from the endzone in the NFC Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on January 23 2011 in Chicago Illinois. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
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Today is August 8. In a little over 120 hours (five days), the Buffalo Bills are set to travel west to take on the Chicago Bears in both teams' pre-season opener. That could be a problem for both teams - but especially for the Bills - if the grass surface at Soldier Field is anything like it was on Friday, when an annual fan event and practice were canceled due to poor field conditions.

Bears chairman George McCaskey, for the record, expressed confidence on Monday that Soldier Field would be ready and suitable for NFL action this Saturday. (In news that won't concern Bills fans beyond Saturday, McCaskey also said that the Bears would become more active in maintaining the playing surface at Soldier Field. Capital idea!)

This is a situation that bears watching for the remainder of the week for reasons that our own 'fansince60' pointed out over the weekend: bad playing surfaces cause injuries, and the Bills are a particularly injury-prone team with a lot of central figures seemingly constantly dealing with dings. We'd hate to see that situation exacerbated because of some poorly-watered grass in an NFL stadium.