PUEBLO, Colo. – Last January, in Sacramento, 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis fractured his neck, sidelining him for the rest of the Unleash The Beast season.

He was on the shelf until September. But when he made his debut for the Carolina Cowboys of the PBR Team Series, rather than being rusty, he went 3-for-3 to lead his squad to a second-place finish on home turf at Cowboy Days.

RELATED: Davis’ emotional return gives lift to Carolina Cowboys

Could a pattern be brewing?

In Chicago three weeks ago, Davis tore cartilage between his ribs and decided to sit out for a few weeks to let it heal.

He returned to action this weekend at the PBR Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic – in Sacramento, of course – and went a perfect 3-for-3 to finish in third place overall.

“You know, it’s one of those deals that if I didn’t take a couple weeks off, it was going to be really hard to deal with the rest of the season,” Davis told Kate Harrison on CBS Sports Network. “Now, taking a couple weeks off, it’s healed enough that I can get through it and feel pretty good going through the rest of the season. Being this much left in the season, I wanted to feel good going through the rest.”

Davis began the weekend with 84.75 points on Old School Cool in Round 1, following it up with 88.25 points on Lights Out in Round 2. In the championship round, he made the most of a re-ride opportunity and rode Express Lane for 85.25 points, hanging off the side of the bull to make the 8-second whistle.

The enthusiastic celebration afterward was well deserved.

“I love the effort,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said. “Express Lane is a handful. He’s always stepping ahead. He’s always wanting to raise Cooper up the whole time. He fights it, he fights it, and he does get him to the outside at the very end, but that’s another huge effort from Cooper.”

Davis finished behind Keyshawn Whitehorse, who beat him out by just .25 points in the aggregate, and two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme but earned 78.5 points toward the Unleash The Beast standings. He’s now ranked No. 3, 198 points behind No. 1 Leme, also finishing fourth in Saturday night’s 15/15 Bucking Battle with 77 points on Express Lane.

Davis’s strategy has been simple.

“Keeping my hand shut,” he told Harrison with a smile. “Last night wasn’t pretty, but got through it, got the whistle, got some points.”

Davis is 14-for-22 (63%) this season with one event win – the PBR St. Louis Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, in December – and five Top-10 finishes.

At the start of the season, Davis said he’s riding as well as he ever has.

“I think as long as I feel like I can win a world title, I will keep going,” Davis told PBR.com in November. “I think I’m good enough to win a world title. No disrespect to anybody, but I think there are four guys right now that are at the top of their game, and I think I’m one of them.”

If his showing in Sacramento is any indication, Davis is right back in the thick of things.

He’ll next be in action in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the PBR Express Ranches Invitational, presented by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, on Feb. 10-11. Round 1 airs on Feb. 10 at 8:45 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media