I say it was a good call. You look out and see damage to the leading edge. You want to slow down as much as possible, but are unsure if you can get control problems when you extend your leading edges. You try FL 5 and LE in mid position. It works.
many many years ago, during the first flight of the 767 one leading edge slat jammed and curled back over the leading edge- due to a poorly designed actuation linkage. The other side was as I recall could only be partially extended for the same linkage problem. The resultant landing was very fast so as to maintain control and had some very hot brakes as a result So the first 5 or 6 airplanes had to have major rework in that area before delivery. How do I know this? Was involved in the tooling side of the rework.