FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jets safety LaRon Landry has not played a full 16-game season since 2008. He has ended the past two seasons on injured reserve, never making it past Week 9. Landry has made it through six weeks healthy with the Jets, and he’s eyeing a whole year.
“I’m going to make the full season,” Landry told The Post last week.
He has a lot riding on it, actually. The Jets structured Landry’s contract in a way that protects them if he gets injured again. Half of Landry’s $3.5 million salary is a $1.75 million roster bonus, paid in sums of $109,375 for each game Landry is active for.
Landry has not just played every game this season, he has played nearly every snap. He has been in for 399 of 424 defensive plays this year (94 percent). Only four defenders have played more than him.
The Jets devised a plan to keep Landry, who had left Achilles tendon issues the past two years with the Redskins, healthy. He gets one practice a week off and they limited his reps during training camp.
“I know what I can do when I’m healthy, and I knew what it was that I needed to keep healthy,” Landry said. “I just needed everybody on the same page about the injury. When you’re not on the same page and it’s two people pulling against each other, it will never work. You have to all be working together.”
Landry and the Redskins fought over whether he should have surgery. Landry wanted to use alternative treatments instead, something he has done the past two offseasons.
“In Washington it was like tug of war,” Landry said. “It wasn’t about my health. At the end of the day, it’s about my health not just about winning. It’s about longevity.”
Landry credits the Jets with trying to find the cause of the injury and not just treat it.
“[In Washington] they weren’t knowledgeable about the injury and there was no plan,” he said. “They would say go today and let’s see how it is tomorrow. There was no strategic plan. [The Jets] tried to find out how the problem occurred instead of just fixing the problem. If you break it down to why it all started then you’re more knowledgeable about it.”
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Jets LB Bart Scott was unhappy last year when the Jets continually took him off the field on passing downs. Last week against the Colts, his playing time dipped to 34 snaps out of 71 plays. Is this a repeat of last year? Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said it had more to do with Scott’s toe injury.
“I would say a lot of that is he’s fighting through the injury with the toe,” Pettine said. “I know it’s probably bothering him more than he’ll let on that it is. [In] the Colts game, I think it was a combination of that, [and] there were times that it depended on what personnel they had on the field. Defensively we’re always looking to match [personnel]. If you have four wide receivers on the field, we want to have four corners on the field.”
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Nose tackles Sione Po’uha (back) and Kenrick Ellis (knee), RB Bilal Powell (shoulder) and safety Eric Smith (knee) did not make the trip. RB Joe McKnight (ankle) did make the trip and is a game-time decision.