LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers will be playing on new turf when they open the season at Soldier Field.

Bermuda grass was installed this week at the lakefront stadium instead of the stadium's traditional Kentucky bluegrass. The Bears hope that leads to fewer issues with a surface that has long been a source of frustration for their own players and coaches as well as opponents.

Coach Matt Eberflus had input in the switch and welcomes the change.

“We feel it’s going to be a nice surface,” coach Eberflus said Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be a fast surface, which I think which lends to help us out.”

The president of the NFL Players Association blasted the choppy conditions at Soldier Field when the Bears played a preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 13. The field was in rough shape following an Elton John concert a week earlier.

The new surface was installed after metal band Rammstein performed at the stadium on Saturday.

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