The Chicago Bears could be forced to make a decision on Nate Davis

When the Chicago Bears signed right guard Nate Davis before last season, they envisioned a solid piece in the foundation of an improving offensive line. This hasn’t gone according to plan, as the 27-year-old was pulled from practice Saturday after he felt a strain in his leg during individual work. This continues a trend of absences for Davis, and the Chicago Bears could soon be forced to look at other options on the offensive line.

The Bears signed Davis to a three-year, $30 million contract before the 2023 season. Davis was previously with the Tennessee Titans for four years before he was signed by the Chicago Bears to start at right guard.

Davis missed most of training camp in 2023 due to a death in the family. This was initially labeled a “personal absence,” creating confusion on why Davis wasn’t practicing with his new team.

This spilled over into the start of the regular season and caused him to be far from NFL speed when he did play. Davis would later suffer an ankle injury that would keep him out even more time, limiting him to just 11 games played last season. What’s worse, PFF gave Davis an abysmal 52.9 rating for his play on the season.

Nate Davis a no-show in OTAs this spring

Davis continued this concerning trend of absences by skipping voluntary OTAs this spring. After such a rocky start with his new team in 2023, one would think Davis would be anxious to start 2024 by getting as much work in as possible. This was not the case. After OTAs, Davis was only a limited participant in mandatory minicamp, further muddying the waters of the offensive line situation.

After Davis’ exit from Saturday’s practice, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus told the media that Davis is considered day-to-day with a minor injury.

“Availability is everything in this league,” said Eberflus. “So you’ve got to be available to practice and you’ve go to be able to go through hard in terms of doing hard better during training camp. That’s all part of preparing the first part of the season, being able to do that. To callous yourself, that’s your individual responsibility to the football team and when you’re not out there, guess what? That doesn’t happen.“

Chicago Bears making contingency plans during training camp

Although injuries happen, it sounds like Eberflus is growing weary of Nate Davis being off the field so often. Training camp is crucial for everyone, but especially the offensive line. After Davis exited practice, the Bears moved Ryan Bates to right guard while putting Coleman Shelton at center. Those two are competing for the starting center job, but if the Davis situation goes south, Ryan Bates could be playing a lot more right guard going forward. Luckily, Bates has experience playing all three interior line positions.

Either way, the Bears need to figure out how they’ll handle this situation as quickly as possible. With rookie quarterback Caleb Williams still getting his footing in the offense, the Bears need their offensive line to be cohesive going into the regular season.