There are plenty of questions surrounding the Tennessee Titans offensive line as training camp approaches. Who’s going to be the right tackle? Left guard? Is Taylor Lewan going to stay healthy and return to consistent pre-injury form? How many oxen has Ben Jones wrestled with his bare hands? These are all questions that the Titans press corps is asking as we head towards the 2022 season. But, one question they aren’t asking: who’s playing right guard? That’s because we know…it’s Nate Davis.
After a shaky start to his rookie campaign, Davis really got his feet set and became a stalwart on the right side of the line. He absolutely should’ve been a Pro Bowler in 2020, and at the conclusion of that season, we were all thinking this man was the future at the position. But, something happened in 2021. I don’t feel like we were ever quite able to place exactly what happened (probably because most of us don’t know shit about playing offensive line even though we pretend to), but he didn’t quite look like 2020 Nate Davis. I dare say, some even used the term ‘regression.’ But, thanks to yet another casual reveal of massive information, we now know that Davis battled covid not once, but count ’em…twice during the season. That just might have something to do with it.
.@Titans guard @Nate_Davis73 said he got COVID twice last season. He said it impacted his strength, conditioning and confidence. pic.twitter.com/MiDVdyLCrl
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) June 14, 2022
Bro, you ain’t kidding – that shit will fuck you up. I had covid in December of 2020, and I STILL get winded walking up a flight of stairs. I’m sure that has nothing to do with how much Panda Express I eat and how little I actually exercise these days. Nope – that’s the covid taking hold. I also got really fat while I had covid – my thinking was that my body needed energy to fight this virus, so I just loaded up on high-energy calories…I stuff my fatass gullet with peanut butter and crackers like my life depended on it. And, understanding the value of resting while ill, I didn’t get off the couch. So, maybe there wasn’t a direct physiological link to my weight gain over those 10 days, I still got fucking fatter than I already am.
So, I can’t even imagine dealing with that twice. I’d be dead – no doubt about it. I already feel like I’m on the verge of my heart exploding at any given moment. You add the stress of two bouts with covid to that and I’m a goner for sure. You ask me to go play professional football after that, and it’s just going to be like a scene from a horror movie. I’m the fat guy that Shane kills to save himself in The Walking Dead. Covid is now one of those things that I don’t guess you ever really get over. It’s just with you now. I still just randomly lose my breath doing nothing but sitting at my desk typing my stupid little articles. Now that I think about it, I should probably see a doctor about all of this.
Nonetheless, this could definitely explain why many of us perceived a bit of a dip in Davis’ play from 2020, when at least one soul on this Earth voted him for the All-Pro team. And, it also provides a little relief knowing that it wasn’t some sort of mental regression. I don’t know about you guys, but that revelation actually makes me feel a lot better about Davis returning to Pro Bowl caliber form. Just…y’know…we gotta get my man some antibodies so he doesn’t keep catching this shit.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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