Strong safety LaRon Landry expects to miss the Washington Redskins’ season opener on Sunday after recently aggravating his strained right hamstring, a setback that has caused some friction between Landry and the Redskins’ training staff.
Landry twice has expressed his frustration with team trainers on his Twitter account since Saturday.
On Saturday, Landry wrote: “Dont u hate when u absolutely know something 200% and [expletive] still do the opposite of what u tell them!!! Set backs [expletive]!!!”
Then on Tuesday he wrote: “Uuuhhh oooo it ain’t my fault…blame the genius circus staff for the rush. wouldve been there 2wks ago. Im [sorry] but saga [continues]”
Tuesday’s tweet was deleted within minutes of being posted. He has since talked with head athletic trainer Larry Hess.
“It wasn’t the best communication we had; it wasn’t a good conversation,” Landry told reporters Wednesday. “We talked today. We’ll get past it.”
Landry continued: “Just a little frustrated with the injury. It was all my fault. It was unprofessional. I take full blame for it. Just a little frustration coming out. I’m ready to play; it’s been a while. Hopefully you understand where I’m coming from.”
Hess was not available for comment.
Coach Mike Shanahan discussed the matter with Landry and told reporters he feels “very good” about how the training staff has handled him. He said it’s up to the player to determine when he is ready to return from an injury.
Landry is the latest Redskin to suffer a setback while coming back from an injury. Running back Ryan Torain aggravated his injured hamstring in pregame warmups before the Monday night game against Philadelphia last season. Receiver Malcolm Kelly reinjured his hamstring on the first day of 2010 training camp. Clinton Portis, Carlos Rogers and Kareem Moore also came back from injuries last season only to be sidelined again.
Shanahan expressed confidence in Hess and his staff.
“Sometimes if a guy is really competitive and he wants to get out there, he comes back a little bit quicker than he should,” he said. “Only that player knows his body for sure. These trainers do a great job of trying to work with him. But a guy has got to know his body.
Landry expects to miss Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, leaving the Redskins without one of their top playmakers.
Asked about his status for the game, he said: “As of now, yeah. It looks like I’m going to miss it.”
He strained his hamstring Aug. 19 while running before the preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts. Landry was rehabilitating his left Achilles’ tendon, which has prevented him from fully practicing with the team since the middle of November 2010.
Landry began training camp on the physically unable to perform list and came off it Saturday, when he participated in part of practice.
When he was rehabilitating his Achilles’ tendon in early August, he insisted he did not want to practice until he was fully healed.
“I’m not going 50 percent,” he said Wednesday. “I’m not going 80 percent. All I know is 130 percent, full speed, and I like to practice at game speed. I was feeling great and I thought I could push it harder, which I did too much and I tugged it.”
Veteran Reed Doughty likely would start in Landry’s place.
Toil and Trouble
The Redskins practiced indoors at a local gym Wednesday because of thunderstorms and heavy rain in Ashburn — not exactly the ideal way to prepare for the first game of the season.
“I thought we got a lot done,” Shanahan said. “We got a chance to kind of review all our assignments. We got some running in. I’m just a little afraid to practice out there because it’s just a little slick.”
Construction of an indoor practice bubble on Redskins Park property recently began, and the facility is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1. Not that it’s doing the team any good this week.
The delay “had to do with permits and those types of things,” Shanahan said. “It didn’t happen as soon as we’d like, but we’ve got it going up, and that’s the main thing.”
Extra Points
• Tight end Chris Cooley (left knee) was limited in practice, and Shanahan does not share Cooley’s confidence that he will play Sunday. “When you don’t take all the reps in practice and you haven’t practiced throughout the preseason, you’re not sure how the knee is going to respond, especially after a couple days of work,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully there’s no setback and he’ll be ready.”
• Others limited in practice were safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (hamstring), receivers Brandon Banks (left knee) and Donte Stallworth (shoulder) and running back Ryan Torain (left hand).
• Rich Campbell can be reached at rcampbell@washingtontimes.com.
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