Bears right guard Nate Davis left Saturday’s practice early with what appeared to be a leg strain. Davis suffered the injury in individual drills, and didn’t participate for the rest of the day.
“When a guy strains something during that time, we always pull him to make sure that we can get the full rest for that particular day and then get him back to the next practice as fast as we can,” said head coach Matt Eberflus.
Eberflus said Davis is considered day-to-day with the injury.
With Davis sidelined the Bears inserted Coleman Shelton at center and moved Ryan Bates to right guard. The Bears traded for Bates in part because he can play all three interior line spots, and he got to show off that positional versatility right away.
“You never know what happens during a game, you can get thrown in there in a pinch,” Bates said. “I’m ready, I know the interior three. I’m trying to have a master understanding of this offense. Every day I’m getting better and better with knowing everything, but yes, I’ll be ready at all times to switch positions in a pinch.”
Davis also missed OTAs this summer for an undisclosed reason and missed six games last year due to a death in the family and an ankle 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.
Chicago Bears
“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.
“Availability is important at every position and sometimes guys get injured and that’s the way it goes and there’s some things you can do. But they have to get back as fast as possible because to me there’s a lot of competition on this roster.”
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In addition to Davis, starting nickel corner Kyler Gordon missed his third practice in a row after he was sidelined due to “tightness” on Tuesday. Backup linebacker Noah Sewell returned to practice after missing several days. He was a limited participant and did not take the field in team drills. Backup wide receiver Nsimba Webster also did not participate in practice on Saturday.
