What if Kizer had landed with Bears?

Entering Thursday night’s regular-season opener, one of the best elements up the Green Bay Packers’ sleeve is the element of surprise.

First-year coach Matt LaFleur has gone to great lengths to hide his intentions on offense. LaFleur hopes that element of surprise will give his team an edge against the defending NFC North-champion Chicago Bears in a Week 1 showdown.

That element of surprise would have vanished, however, had quarterback DeShone Kizer landed in Chicago after being released by the Packers on Saturday. The Bears would have grilled Kizer like a fugitive, hoping to extra every bit of intel to bolster an already-powerful defense.

“That’s every player from every team that’s been preparing for the last couple weeks,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Sunday. “Most teams go into preparation mode two weeks before the first game, so there’s a ton of those guys on the street now. We worry about us more so than anything like that. But no real worries there.”

But Kizer’s a quarterback, and his knowledge of the Packers’ new offense runs infinitely deeper than that of, say, kicker Sam Ficken, who also was released on Saturday and was assumed to be of interest to the Bears.

“Yeah, you’d be surprised at how much things start to change this week,” Gutekunst said with a smile.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter. The Oakland Raiders claimed Kizer off waivers. The Raiders do play the Packers in Week 7 at Lambeau Field.

Kizer was the backup to Aaron Rodgers last season and performed miserably when getting significant playing time in Week 1 vs. Chicago and Week 17 vs. Detroit. Tim Boyle unseated Kizer with a strong preseason, as he ranked No. 1 in the NFL in passer rating, touchdowns and touchdown percentage.

“Obviously, he had a really good preseason,” Gutekunst said. “Since we got Tim last year, his progression has been pretty steady and consistent. He went out there this preseason and performed well. I think he’s ready for it if that occasion arises. He’s one of the 53 that have got to go out and win games. So, if he’s called upon, I think he’ll be ready.”