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Dustin Keller out for season
Updated: August 18, 2013, 1:08 PM ET
ESPN.com news services

Reports: Dustin Keller Out For Season

Miami Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller will miss the entire 2013 season due to a serious right knee injury he suffered Saturday night against the Houston Texans, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Dustin Keller, who signed a one-year contract with the Dolphins this offseason, will miss the entire 2013 season after injuring his right knee Saturday.

Keller tore his ACL, MCL and PCL and also dislocated his knee, a source familiar with the injury told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The Dolphins haven't provided any official word on Keller's injury.

Keller's leg bent unnaturally when he was tackled on the right knee by D.J. Swearinger on an incomplete pass Saturday night. He immediately grabbed his right knee and was soon carted off the field.

"With the rules in this era you've got to hit low," Swearinger told ESPN.com's Tania Ganguli after Saturday night's game against the Dolphins. "If I would have hit him high, I would have gotten a fine. So I think I made the smartest play. I'm sorry it happened and I pray he has a speedy recovery. ... Right now it's just instinct. You see somebody come across the middle, you gotta go low. You're going to cost your team 15 yards. You've got to play within the rules."

The rookie safety said he knew he had to change his playing style after being penalized for high hits in college.

"My senior year I had like three helmet-to-helmet [penalties]," Swearinger told ESPN.com. "I knew I had to change my style of play and start targeting low."

Swearinger also tweeted get-well wishes to Keller, although he identified him incorrectly as "Justin."

Keller spent his first five seasons with the New York Jets before signing a $4.25 million, one-year contract with the Dolphins in the offseason in hopes of proving that he's deserving of a long-term extension. He has 17 career touchdown receptions, but he played in only eight games in 2012 because of hamstring and ankle injuries.

He had one reception for 14 yards on Saturday.

His injury represents a significant setback for the Dolphins, who signed Keller to replace tight end Anthony Fasano and help second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Keller and Tannehill had clicked in training camp and connected on a 22-yard touchdown pass in the second exhibition game.

Rookie Dion Sims, Michael Egnew, Charles Clay and Kyle Miller are among tight ends on the Dolphins' roster that will now compete to help try to fill the void left by Keller's injury.

Ouch indeed..

If you've seen the hit it was pretty bad. As someone who has torn knee ligaments, it still makes me cringe. Sucks for him and Miami.

Man, is there anything he didn't damage in that knee? Dislocated plus tearing every ligament in there ....? Ouch indeed. Hopefully he'll be able to recover from it. That's a lot of damage for one joint.

I saw the hit and my first though was he's definitely gone for the year, but seeing the damage done...He might be gone for longer than that. If he comes back, chances are he might not ever be the same. I wish him well though, don't like seeing that. This is part of the aftermath and the NFL changing the targeting point. However, had the defender aimed for his waist, we wouldn't be having this discussion. You don't have to take someone out at the knees to get them down. If you aim for the waist and wrap the legs...textbook TACKLE...not hit. But what do I know, I'm just a 7th grade coach who wants my players to make it to the 8th grade in one piece.

To me the most serious part is the dislocation. Players tear ligaments all the time,and recover ...... and the MCL and PCL are rather minor by comparison .... but when you get into dislocations of joints, that's when it seems to me like you get into long term damage that causes problems over time.

Exactly. The ligaments aren't the problem IMO. It's the reconstruction of EVERYTHING. Basically he will have an entire knew leg/knee.

They didn't say his LCL was torn.

Well, one out of four ain't too bad, right? Right? Right???

Absitively!

Poor guy. If he comes back at all and is able to compete after totally destroying his knee ill be extremely surprised. That's about the worst knee-injury report I've ever seen.

Pretty much.

This is a huge blow to Miami. My friend who is a die hard 'Phin fan is absolutely crushed cause he predicted that Keller would play a very large part in the success of that offense.

Sad-to-say, this increases our chances for a defensive shut out though. We should be able to double team Wallace often now.

And here we go with the classic "It's not flag football" moron statement. I cannot tell you how many times this has been trotted out as rules are applied to make the sport safer for players.

You probably argued against seat belts in race cars, didn't you?

I did not call you a moron, I said the " flag football" statement is moronic. Which it is.

Seems to me, since you have pretty well described the type of athlete in today's NFL, you would be all for limiting the hitting area to the " strike zone" of the body.

Good post.

So who do the Dolphins have that is an offensive threat? Wallace and Hartline? They have no RBs and a crap o-line. I have full confidence in Ray Horton developing a scheme to stop Hartline and Wallace.

I was thinking the same thing. That said, though, I think I'm more concerned about Hartline than Wallace (assuming Haden blankets him the entire game- which makes me ask since I haven't seen them play yet, "Does Haden line up on just one side of the field, or will he be covering the opposing team's best wideout?"). Horton can game-plan for their only threats all he wants, but he can't help Owens or Skrine actually cover people. Hartline already has about six inches on either on of them. It's definitely a concern.

Either way, considering their arsenal, young QB, and sketchy offensive line, we have to be salivating at the chance to open up the year with a win against them.

Those are two really fast guys. I'm glad we've got Buster.