The Chicago Bears offensive line has struggled through the first two games of the season. With Matt Eberflus and the offensive coaches looking for answers, they’ve decided to do something significant in advance of the Bears’ week three matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.
Yesterday,#Bears coach Matt Eberflus alluded to the possibility Matt Pryor plays on Sunday at Indianapolis.
“Super excited for him, if he’s working in there with Nate (Davis) or whatever that might be.”
From what I am hearing, Pryor is expected to start at right guard.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) September 21, 2024
The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs is reporting that Matt Pryor will be starting in place of Nate Davis.
Biggs did send out a second tweet: “Nate Davis is questionable for the game as he aggravated the groin injury that forced him out during camp on Wednesday in practice. Davis was limited all week in practice.”
So Biggs is insinuating that the decision to start Pryor may simply be injury-related, but I have heard from a source that did say they believe it to be performance-related more than injury-related.
Pryor is a massive man. He is 6’7 and is currently listed at 332 lbs but has been listed in past years as high as 350. Pryor isn’t the best pass blocker, but his strength may help offset the struggles of Coleman Shelton who doesn’t have a strong anchor and has been getting pushed back into Caleb Williams.
This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone after both Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles challenged Nate Davis publicly during training camp about being more available and in week one it was clear the Bears were trying to quickly work Ryan Bates back from his injury and have him take as many reps as possible at right guard.
Davis signed a 3-year, $30 million deal with $20 million of it guaranteed in March of 2023. The Bears can release Davis after the season with very little dead money and the expectation is that is the route the team takes and will be in the market for a new right guard in 2025.
