Stephen Holder

stephen.holder@indystar.com

Here's the Cliffs Notes version of what transpired at safety on the first day of the Colts' mandatory minicamp on Tuesday:

Mike Adams, the team's newest safety, believes he has a legitimate shot at cracking the starting lineup and confidently took the field for the first time.

Meanwhile, the only returning starter at the position, LaRon Landry, showed up after a months-long absence from voluntary sessions only to be sidelined by a routine physical that should have been conducted on Monday.

The secondary was front and center Tuesday, also because cornerback Vontae Davis (groin) and safety Delano Howell (undisclosed) were sidelined by injuries.

But Adams was on the field and arrived with high hopes. Signed on Saturday to augment the young lineup of safeties, the veteran is entering his 11th season, coming off two with the Denver Broncos.

As it turns out, one of the first things coach Chuck Pagano and General Manager Ryan Grigson told him was that he is not guaranteed a starting job. That might have just given Adams even more resolve to win the job and replace the departed Antoine Bethea.

"I told coach and I told (Grigson), 'I appreciate you telling me that I don't have the job,'" Adams said. "I appreciate that because I was an underdog my whole career. I love competing and proving people wrong."

After appearing in February's Super Bowl with the Broncos, Adams, 33, had remained unsigned after the expiration of his contract in March. At times, the wait became excruciating.

His age is seen as the biggest factor in his lingering unemployment. But Adams has ability, starting 23 of 32 regular-season games the past two seasons in Denver. In 2013, Adams started the final nine games (including the Super Bowl).

"I was talking to (Grigson) and he said, 'I had to watch your film,'" Adams recalled. "He said, 'You're 33?' Yeah, I'm 33. When you watch the film, it doesn't look like I'm 33."

If that confidence translates into performance, the Colts might just have something. At minimum, they've added an accomplished veteran to the mix to compete with Howell and the athletic Sergio Brown.

Whoever wins the job will be paired with Landry. But, for now, the Colts will settle for getting the veteran on the field.

That wasn't possible Tuesday because Landry, according to Pagano, was undergoing a required standard physical examination and the process ran into the afternoon practice.

Why was Landry seemingly the only player to have this issue?

"Last night we had an administrative meeting," Pagano said. "You can't do any football on the first day. So every single vet on the football team has to go do physicals."

Pagano didn't specify whether Landry missed that meeting or was unable to take the physical for another reason. Either way, it's a routine, annual process for veterans before minicamp opens.

Landry's absence will be scrutinized because he has gained a reputation for skipping voluntary offseason workouts despite the extremely high attendance rates of his teammates. While Landry is renowned for his grueling personal workouts and is always in impeccable shape, he's missed critical time on the field during the past few weeks.

The recipient of a four-year, $24 million contract last offseason, Landry had an up-and-down first campaign in Indianapolis in 2013. And this season, he faces the additional challenge of playing alongside a new safety after the loss of Bethea to the San Francisco 49ers in free agency.

Pagano can't rightly criticize a player for opting out of voluntary work, but Landry's absence hasn't gone unnoticed.

"LaRon probably works as hard as anybody," Pagano said. "Wish he was here most of the time, but I know that he's working. He probably does too much."

It's believed Landry is the only Colts player to have missed all of the team's voluntary workouts, which began on April 21 with conditioning drills.

"You'd love to have him," Pagano said. "It's voluntary. Everywhere I've been there's been a guy here or there that's missed. ... I'm not worried about him being ready to go."

Call Star reporter Stephen Holder at (317) 444-6525. Follow him on Twitter: @HolderStephen.