Matt Nagy: Bears Will Be 'Smart' with Khalil Mack in Week 1 vs. Packers

Chicago Bears fans anxious to see newly acquired linebacker Khalil Mack on the field may not have to wait long.

Head coach Matt Nagy addressed the issue of how long it will take Mack to play in game action Sunday and granted the Bears will need to be "smart" in assessing his availability, per ESPN.com. However, he also said Chicago is "going to do everything we can to get him to a point to where he can play" in the Sept. 9 season opener against the rival Green Bay Packers.

"We'll get to see where he's at mentally here after tonight, and then physically we'll have a practice tomorrow and physically get an idea, and then we'll just kind of have to listen to his feedback where he's at," Nagy said. "We told him, communication is imperative here. It's not like being able to plug somebody in on a Madden game and just say, 'Go sack the quarterback.' There's some planning that goes [into it]."

Mack sat out all of training camp and the preseason for the Oakland Raiders and was understandably asked if he thinks he is ready to jump right into the heat of action against a team as talented as Green Bay.

"I feel like I'm ready, but you know, the game, we've got to get out there and get to it and my body will respond the way it's going to respond and then coaches are going to kind of ease me into it and so we're going to figure it out," he said.

ESPN noted Chicago traded 2019 and 2020 first-round picks, a 2020 third-round pick and a 2019 sixth-round pick to land Mack, a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional 2020 fifth-round pick.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the Bears signed Mack to an extension for six years and $141 million, which made the linebacker the highest-paid defender in league history.

One reason the Bears made such a commitment is to close the gap with the Packers and Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. It is no surprise, then, they want him on the field in the opener as they look to send a message to Aaron Rodgers and usher in a new era of winning for the proud franchise that last reached the playoffs in the 2010 campaign.

Mack has already accumulated the 2016 Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year, two First Team All-Pro honors and three Pro Bowl nods in his first four seasons and counts 40.5 sacks on his resume.

He joins a defense already featuring a mix of veterans and young talent such as Akiem Hicks, Leonard Floyd, Roquan Smith, Kyle Fuller and Eddie Jackson and will make an already-formidable group all the more potent:

Rodgers is a once-in-a-generation talent and future Hall of Famer, but even he will have his hands full if Mack is on the field for Sunday's showdown.