Amid protection issues for Caleb Williams through the first two games, Chicago Bears right guard Nate Davis is being put in the spotlight for his lack of involvement at practice.
On the latest episode of the Scoop City podcast (starts 42:00 mark), The Athletic’s Adam Hoge noted the interior of the Bears are “frustrated” with Davis “not practicing” to the point the team was hoping to replace him with free-agent signee Ryan Bates before Bates suffered a shoulder injury:
“Since training camp started, it’s been a disaster. Nate Davis is probably not a huge national story, but locally, it’s been a big story for the last two years. He doesn’t like to practice. The Bears are frustrated with him not practicing. And I think he was going to lose that starting job at right guard to Ryan Bates, but Ryan Bates got hurt. And last week, actually, Ryan Bates out-snapped Nate Davis in the opener in a rotation, but then Ryan Bates suffered another injury this week in practice and he’s now on IR. So Nate Davis is out there by default. They got nobody else there to put in, even though I don’t think they want to play him. The interior of the offensive line is probably the least sexy thing to talk about when it comes to football, but right now for the Bears, it’s their biggest problem.”
Williams was under duress throughout the Bears’ loss to the Houston Texans in Week 2. He was sacked seven times and pressured 23 times on 48 dropbacks, per NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
Pro Football Focus (h/t Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago) credited Davis with allowing four pressures and one sack. Darnell Wright, who plays tackle next to Davis on the right side of the line, allowed five pressures and two sacks.
Quinten Krzysko of Bears on Tap did note Davis was “excellent” in the first half against the Texans, but the wheels fell off with “mental errors, tripping over teammates, and struggling to sustain his anchor” in the second half.
The Bears’ second-half offense was virtually non-existent. Four of their eight drives ended in three plays or fewer (three punts, one interception). Two other drives lasted five plays (one punt, one turnover on downs). The one sustained drive they had gained 61 yards on 12 plays, ending with a 54-yard field goal by Cairo Santos.
Davis, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Bears as a free agent in March 2023, was actually asked about fan response to his practice habits during training camp in August.
“My focus is just on the building, on the players and our coaching staff and whatever they ask me to do,” Davis told reporters on Aug. 15. He wasn’t practicing at the time due to an undisclosed injury.
Davis hasn’t been on the injury report in the first two weeks of the regular season. He only played 18 snaps in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans, but was on the field for every offensive snap against the Texans.
The Bears’ second-half offense was virtually non-existent. Four of their eight drives ended in three plays or fewer (three punts, one interception). Two other drives lasted five plays (one punt, one turnover on downs). The one sustained drive they had gained 61 yards on 12 plays, ending with a 54-yard field goal by Cairo Santos.
Davis, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Bears as a free agent in March 2023, was actually asked about fan response to his practice habits during training camp in August.
“My focus is just on the building, on the players and our coaching staff and whatever they ask me to do,” Davis told reporters on Aug. 15. He wasn’t practicing at the time due to an undisclosed injury.
The Bears have scored just one offensive touchdown through their first two games. Williams is 37-of-66 (56.1 percent) for 267 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s been sacked nine times, tied with Gardner Minshew II for most in the NFL through two weeks.
