Bear Digest

Matt Eberflus in No Hurry to Write Off Guard Nate Davis

Although the veteran guard spent Sunday watching as an inactive, the Bears coach thinks it's still possible he'd see the field again this season.

Gene Chamberlain

Nate Davis might not be done yet in Chicago even though he was inactive Sunday, if what coach Matt Eberflus says is correct.
Nate Davis might not be done yet in Chicago even though he was inactive Sunday, if what coach Matt Eberflus says is correct. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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Nate Davis has gone from wearing street clothes and watching games on Sunday to possibly being a valued part of the Bears offensive line overnight.

At least this is the picture coach Matt Eberflus painted with a description Monday of Davis' roster situation.

The Bears offensive line has been in a perpetual state of flux over the last 2 1/2 seasons but seemed to be stabilizing over the last three games. On Sunday, Davis was an inactive for the first time and thus behind starter Matt Pryor, starter Teven Jenkins and backup Bill Murray. Eberflus was fine with dressing eight linemen.

"Because we felt like going with eight for us provided what we needed for the game and we were OK with doing that," the Bears coach said. "Again, I've got to just give Nate a lot of credit here.

"He's been a pro's pro. He's done a really good job of staying engaged, working every week, and again, we're going to need all these players, and they know that. They're going to have to step in there and perform like we saw yesterday with our defensive backfield. So it's important everybody stays engaged, stays on it in terms of the details and preparation. But yesterday we just went with eight and we ended up putting that slot somewhere else."

Pro Football Focus grades have Davis with a respectable season as a pass blocker. His grade of 69.2 as a pass blocker is above average. But he's at 53.7 as a run blocker.

For the season, PFF has him at one sack allowed. He has committed three penalties.

In the Bears' win over Carolina, he was left on the bench when Teven Jenkins suffered an ankle injury and in came Murray, a converted former defensive lineman who the Bears signed after being cut by New England. Murray was on the Bears practice squad last yeawr.

Eberflus wasn't going to make too much of that situation or the fact Davis was inactive in London.

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"Like I said, he's been great, he's been engaged, and we're going to need him down the stretch," Eberflus said. "It could be this week, next week or after that. "He's done a really good job with that."

Davis signed a three-year, $30 million deal last year as a free agent after playing four years for Tennessee.

Guard-center Ryan Bates is eligible to come off of injured reserve but Eberflus is making no commitment to activating him now. He suffered shoulder and elbow injuries in the opener. Also eligible to return is tackle Larry Borom.

His reasoning is why change something that's working?

"I've been encouraged with the guys that have been in there and again," Eberflus said. "It's always going to be, 'it's a long season.' It's always going to be, 'hey, we’re going to slide some different guys in there during the course of this season.'

"But I do like where it's (blocking) been the last few weeks. It's been firm, it's been good and the protection has been nice in terms of that. The continuity has been good, too. We'll see where it is when guys come back and where guys are going forward. We'll always put the best five we have out there for that particular week. But yeah, I've been pleased with it for sure."

With a glut of linemen eligbile to be active on Sundays, it's possible the Bears might think of this as an area to offer for trades. However, trading away linemen who are buried on a bench or injured reserve isn't unlikely. No one wants injured players and if they're buried on one roster the chances are good they would be somewhere else, as well.

In Davis' case, there is the salary cap issue to overcome in any trade. The Bears would absorb $2 million dead cap money if they traded him, according to Overthecap.com. But the other team would need to be willing to take on the remainder of his $8.75 million contract for this year.

The Bears gave the Bills a fifth-round pick for Bates before this season.

The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 5 at 3 p.m.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.