Davis was held out of minicamp as he recovered from ACL surgery, but returned in time to participate in training camp. Davis had been replaced as the starting weakside linebacker by rookie first round pick Luke Kuechly. He competed against James Anderson to be the starting strongside linebacker. Head coach Ron Rivera named Davis the backup strongside linebacker, behind James Anderson, to begin the regular season. On September 9, 2012, Davis recorded three combined tackles during the Panthers’ season-opening 16–10 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He became the first known player to successfully return to active competition after suffering three torn ACLs on the same knee. Davis was inactive during the Panthers’ Week 3 loss to the New York Giants due to a hamstring injury. Davis was named the starting weakside linebacker in a Week 5 after Jon Beason sustained a shoulder injury and was replaced by Luke Kuechly after being placed on injured reserve on October 24, 2012. On November 18, 2012, Davis collected a season-high 16 combined tackles (11 solo) during the Panthers’ 27–21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 11. In Week 14, Davis recorded seven combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made an interception during a 30–20 victory against the Atlanta Falcons. Davis finished the 2012 NFL season with 105 combined tackles (70 solo), three pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and one interception in 15 games and 12 starts.