Healthy LaRon Landry has first practice with Jets

CORTLAND, N.Y. -- LaRon Landry pounded the turf with his open hand, visibly frustrated with himself for dropping an interception during seven-on-seven team drills.

It was only his first practice with his new team, but his expectations for himself are high. In torrential downpours that began at 9 a.m. and lasted throughout much of the 21/2-hour session Saturday morning, Landry made the most of his limited snaps.

After spending the entire offseason rehabbing Achilles and heel injuries, the safety is anxious to show the Jets he's got plenty left in the tank.

"It felt great," he said of his near-interception. "I'm kind of mad at myself. I wish I would have caught the interception. I should have caught the interception. I was one step too late . . . And that's just me being a tough critic of myself."

The Jets acquired Landry, 27, in March, but the former Redskin was merely a spectator during their offseason program, prompting many to wonder if he'd ever take the practice field. On Saturday, he calmed those concerns.

"Wow," Rex Ryan said when asked for an assessment of Landry's first practice.

"The first thing you look at is obviously the physical stature of him," Ryan said. "But you forget he can run a 4.3 [40]. The makeup speed is phenomenal . . . It's clearly about his health. If he stays healthy, we know what we have. That's a perennial Pro Bowl safety."

And Landry is eager to show off his Pro Bowl form, not because he is competing with himself or his teammates but simply because he knows no other way to be.

"Each and every snap, each and every day, I'm trying to send a message," he said. "I'm really not competing with myself, I'm just trying to earn my teammates' trust. That I'm with them throughout thick and thin and I'm going to give it 100 [percent]. All I got."

Landry said the coaching staff believed it was necessary to place him on the active PUP list this past week, but he wasn't worried about his health heading into camp.

"I knew my health was going to be there," said Landry, who was activated Thursday. "I don't doubt myself."

Ryan said Landry will be on a "pitch count" and practice every third day in order to avoid aggravating his injuries.

Though Landry would prefer to be on the field, he understands why the coaching staff sees the need to be cautious. Of his reputation for going full speed, he said: "That's the only speed I got. It's all or nothing with me."

Getting physically ready for football was the easy part, Landry said. The biggest challenge continues to be mastering the terminology and the playbook. And, of course, jelling with his new teammates.

"They already were a great secondary," Landry said. "I'm just trying to fit in."