CORTLAND — LaRon Landry says he doesn’t know how to go half-speed.
Luckily for him, Landry was healthy enough to go full-speed yesterday in his first full practice as a Jet after the safety sat out Friday’s opening session.
“Physically, I feel 100 [percent],” Landry said afterwards. “I’m just pushing it.”
It has been a while since Landry could say he was feeling 100 percent physically. Each of the past two seasons in Washington ended with Landry on the injured reserve. Both seasons ended with Landry dealing with lingering Achilles tendon/foot issues that limited him to just 17 games during that span.
That has led to Rex Ryan and the Jets, who signed the safety to a one-year, $3.5 million contract in March, giving Landry a “pitch count,” in order to try and make sure he will be ready to step into the starting secondary alongside fellow free agent pickup Yeremiah Bell when the season begins.
“Sometimes you have to protect them from themselves,” Ryan said. “That’s a guy that when you see him out there, that’s full speed.
“It’s full speed or walkthrough with him. You don’t get a lot of in-between.”
Landry showed that when he passed the conditioning portion of his physical Thursday, allowing himself to be removed from the physically unable to perform list in time for the start of training camp.
Ryan praised Landry’s effort in the drills, saying he was out to prove a point to his teammates, something Landry said was on his mind when he did it.
“I went out there and tried to give it all I’ve got,” Landry said. “I empty my tank and leave it all on the field each and every day. That’s what I did with the conditioning drill.”
He did the same yesterday, finding a way to make his presence felt while rotating in for several plays during team drills. Landry was used on a couple of blitzes from his safety spot and also made a nice play to knock away a Mark Sanchez pass.
“It felt great,” he said. “[But] I wish I would have caught the interception, I should have caught the interception. I was one step too late. I should have gotten down there earlier.
“But that’s just me being a tough critic on myself. Even though I’m not trying to compete with myself, I’m supposed to make that play.”
Ryan also was impressed with Landry, particularly with his speed despite his 6-foot, 220-pound frame.
“The first thing you look at, obviously, is the physical stature of him,” Ryan said. “But you forget the guy runs a 4.3 [40-yard dash]. The makeup speed is phenomenal.
“That speed just jumps out at you. I know all the corners were excited.”
Now that Landry feels he is healthy, his goal is to try and catch up on the mental aspect of learning a new playbook and familiarizing himself with his new teammates.
“Each and every day is progress,” Landry said. “I’m not gonna say I’m far behind. Like I said, it’s just all about learning the terminology and getting accustomed to the calls, so I feel good about it.”