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Dustin Keller News & Rumors

Keller welcomes Sparano change
April 13
New York Post
 
"The Jets begin their offseason program next week, their first under new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano after a tumultuous final season under Brian Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer, who spent six seasons in charge of the Jets' offense, has since moved on to the Rams, and Jets tight end Dustin Keller thinks both sides will benefit from the change. "I think it's a good thing for everybody," Keller said last night at an event at a NFL pop-up store in Midtown. "Anytime things go bad, people want to come down on the quarterback and the coordinator. For [Schottenheimer] to move on to the Rams is probably a good change for him, [to] get a fresh, clean slate."
Jets, Keller start to talk contract
April 5
ESPN.com
 
"The Jets have held preliminary contract discussions with TE Dustin Keller, according to a league source. Keller, the team's most consistent playmaker last season, is entering the final year of his rookie contract. No deal is imminent, but this bears watching because he'd be the Jets' most prominent free agent in 2013. Keller is due to make $3.05 million this season, thanks to an escalator that bumped his base pay by $2 million. Clearly, Keller isn't hurting, but it makes sense to lock him up for the long term."
Dustin Keller comes to aid of embattled quarterback Mark Sanchez
February 3
New York Daily News
 
"A few weeks after several key Jets players and members of the organization made critical comments about Mark Sanchez in a Daily News report, one the quarterback's closest friends disputed some of the claims. Tight end Dustin Keller told The News on Thursday that he firmly believes Sanchez is the team's long-term solution at quarterback. He also took exception to one player's claim that Sanchez was "lazy and content" on the practice field because he knew that Rex Ryan would never bench him. "The truth: 100% . . . He is the hardest worker I know," said Keller, who believes that Sanchez unfairly shouldered the bulk of the blame this season even though there were plenty of other elements in"
Keller: Jets had 'bad situation'
February 2
New York Post
 
"The last time Jets fans saw Dustin Keller, he was trying to calm Santonio Holmes down in the huddle in Miami as the Jets' season went down the tubes. Keller could not believe it was a month ago when the Jets lost 19-17 to the Dolphins and Holmes watched the final two minutes from the bench after fighting with teammates. "It was just a bad situation," Keller said. "Things just fell the wrong way. It's the worst-case scenario. We have a lot of competitors on the team. When things just started falling apart there were cameras in the ... well I guess for the media it was the right place."
Dustin Keller finds chemistry with Mark Sanchez, becomes team's leading receiver
December 31
Newark Star-Ledger
 
"The call came and Dustin Keller jumped on a cross-country flight bound for California. He was slated to shoot a Verizon commercial with Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez amid the heart of the NFL lockout and was instructed to arrive in full team gear. Keller's form that day, he said, was impeccable during rehearsal, so Sanchez decided to capitalize on the situation. He asked his tight end to stay a while and run through some routes after the commercial was done shooting. "He's a jerk," Keller joked, adding that Verizon did not include him in the final edit of the commercial, either. Instead, it was just a clip of Sanchez dropping back and hurling a football through the roof of a stadium. But"
Dustin Keller has a history of success against New England Patriots
November 12
Newark Star-Ledger
 
"Jets' tight end Dustin Keller wasn't aware that he'd cleared the first down marker by nearly 2 yards before he set his feet and readied himself to hurdle the oncoming defender. In mid-air last Sunday, Buffalo Bills cornerback Terrence McGee clipped Keller at the thighs and sent him spiraling, his 250-pound frame resembling a stray plastic bag on the Garden State Parkway. As Keller wobbled back to the sidelines finding his legs, tight ends coach Mike Devlin prepared his two-part reaction. "I asked him if he was all right," Devlin said. "He said yes. And then I, in my own way, let him know I never wanted him to do that again. That's the G-rated version." "He had to make sure I was okay"
Jets' Dustin Keller taking advantage of opposing defenses
September 19
Newark Star-Ledger
 
"Jets receiver Plaxico Burress took time Sunday to remind tight end Dustin Keller that he stands to benefit from their arrangement. "If teams want to line up and play (Santonio Holmes, Derrick Mason and I) like that, then Dustin can just tear them to pieces, and that's what I told him," Burress said after the Jets' 32-3 victory over the Jaguars. "If they want to come out and play us like that, take away the guys on the edge — he's going to make a lot of plays." And so far, teams have. For the second straight week, Keller finished with a touchdown — this time grabbing one with four minutes to play in the third quarter, placing the game completely out of reach for Jacksonville. While the"
Jets expect big things from Dustin Keller
August 12
Bergen Record
 
"The easy rapport shared by Mark Sanchez and Dustin Keller was on display here earlier this week. But not at the Jets' Atlantic Health Center training facility. Instead, it could be seen at a burger place a mile or two down the road, as the two young veterans tried to one-up each other by tweeting embarrassing photos of one another. The chemistry could be even better this season, as demonstrated Thursday when they showed they are on the same page in terms of Keller's potential. "He's definitely a Pro Bowl-caliber player," quarterback Sanchez said of the fourth-year tight end. "No doubt, with his ability. … Dustin is seeing how he can unlock his full potential just by cleaning up a couple of"
Jets want Moore from Keller
August 12
New York Post
 columnist Steve Serby
"At Purdue, they showed Dustin Keller clips of Dallas Clark. When the Jets made Keller a surprise first-round pick in 2008, they dreamed he would one day be their Dallas Clark. Now it is time for Dustin Keller to be Dallas Clark. There aren't quite 81 reasons why this is the year it should happen, but close enough. You can start with the friendship and telepathy between Keller and quarterback Mark Sanchez, a chemistry that has long existed between Clark and Peyton Manning.. "We had like a photo shoot a month or so ago," Keller began, "and even when we were wearing our full gear and there for the camera, he still was making me go out there and run routes and stuff which, uh, is really hot."
Dustin Keller says lockout won't affect Jets as much as other teams
July 26
Newark Star-Ledger
 
"Jets tight end Dustin Keller said that although building continuity and friendship were crucial in Rex Ryan's first two years as head coach, he thinks this year's team is much better off than others coming back from the lockout. "Quarterback has been in place, whole entire coaching staff has been the same, so I definitely think we're in a better position,'' Keller said. "I think this lockout is going to affect a lot of people a lot more than it has us.'' Keller spent a few minutes with reporters this afternoon and talked a little more about what to expect from the Jets following the work stoppage. Here are the highlights: No training camp in Cortland this year: "That was really important"
Playoffs have been Dustin time
January 5
New York Post
 
"It didn't take long for Jets tight end Dustin Keller to draft an impressive playoff resume. In his postseason debut last year, Keller scored a touchdown in each of the team's three games -- one each against the Bengals, Chargers and Colts. Three games, 12 catches, three TDs. That works. The latter score came in a loss in the AFC title game in Indianapolis, which also was a Keller homecoming. The Lafayette, Ind., native, who played at Purdue, grew up a Colts fan. "They put us out last year, and our goal is to win the Super Bowl," he said yesterday, "and the first stop there is Indianapolis." Nobody with Gang Green is going to complain if Keller makes it four straight playoff games with a"
Keller is catchin' on fast
October 4
New York Post
 
"Dustin Keller had potential, all right, but let's be honest: Jets fans have been down this road with tight ends before. Who had more potential than Johnny Mitchell? How about Kyle Brady? Anthony Becht? The Jets have been searching for their next Mickey Shuler since Mickey Shuler went to the Eagles exactly 20 years ago. Every few years, someone would show a spark and then he would drop it. Sometimes literally. Keller? Keller is starting to insist he is a keeper. He added two touchdowns yesterday -- one from Mark Sanchez, one out of the Wildcat from Brad Smith -- which gives him five on the year and eight in his last seven games dating back to last season. He has left potential behind, and"
Jets trust in Dustin
September 21
New York Post
 
"Thanks to Mark Sanchez, Dustin Keller's remarkable turnaround from Week 1 to Week 2 almost got lost in the shuffle. And that's exactly how the Jets' third-year tight end likes it. "I don't want the focus on me because it's better to be a little bit of a secret weapon," Keller said yesterday. Keller won't be able to fly under the radar much longer if he keeps having games like the one he enjoyed Sunday against the Patriots. Repeatedly burning the Patriots in the middle of the field, Keller fueled the Jets' second-half comeback with a career-high 115 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. It was just the second 100-yard receiving game of Keller's brief NFL career and his first since"
Keller's in flight for Jets
September 20
New York Post
 
"Dustin Keller served as a perfect symbol of the turnaround performed by the Jets' offense in yesterday's 28-14 victory over the Patriots at New Meadowlands Stadium. The third-year tight end had a game-high seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown as part of a Jets passing attack that did all it could to erase the memory of last week's offensive disaster. "It feels really good to be a big part of the offense," said Keller, who set a career high in receiving yards. "When me and Mark [Sanchez] are clicking, it just seems like everybody is clicking. In a couple more games, we get [Santonio] Holmes back, so that will just be one more threat." Keller's touchdown came on a one-yard pass from"
In Super Bowl or bust year, New York Jets' usually quiet TE Dustin Keller has plenty to talk about
September 12
New York Daily News
 
"The gentleman in him wants to stay quiet, keep his lips sealed and go about his business, running routes in silence. On most Sunday afternoons, Dustin Keller works in relative anonymity. He's not looking for trouble, really. Just don't taunt him. The consequences could be severe. "Once a guy starts jabbering off at me, I'm on that guy for the rest of the game," Keller told The Daily News. "My goal is to make him feel like the worst player in the NFL . . . If you get on me, good luck." The third-year tight end may be the biggest beneficiary in the Jets' revamped offense. The team's stout running game coupled with a suddenly loaded arsenal of pass-catching options should free up the"
Dustin Keller goes home on a hot streak
January 24
Bergen Record
 
"As a kid growing up in Lafayette, Ind., Dustin Keller dreamed of playing a big game in this city. But not at the RCA Dome, the predecessor to Lucas Oil Stadium. "My dream when I was younger," he said last week, "was to play in Conseco Fieldhouse" in the State high school basketball championships. But the native of this basketball-crazed state eventually traded his hoop dreams for football aspirations. And today, Keller and the Jets will visit the Colts with the AFC Championship and a trip to Super Bowl XLIV on the line. But for Keller, this visit home will be a sad one, too. His uncle, Tony Kendall, whom he was very close with, died Wednesday at age 47. Kendall lived in Indianapolis."
Dustin Keller faces Indianapolis Colts, his childhood team
January 21
New York Daily News
 
"As a boy growing up in Indiana, Dustin Keller bled blue and white. And on most Sundays even now, he still does. "Everyone in Indiana is a Colts fan," said Keller, the Jets' tight end who grew up in Lafayette, Ind., and attended Purdue. "Even today, when they're not playing us, I root for them to win. But obviously on Sunday it's going to be a whole different story." On Sunday the real and the surreal will collide for Keller as the Jets look to continue their magical playoff ride when they meet the Colts in the AFC Championship Game. That's the real part. The surreal for Keller will be watching his teammates on the NFL's No. 1 defense trying to stop Peyton Manning, Keller's boyhood idol."
Keller: We'll show Colts win not phony
January 18
New York Post
 
"Dustin Keller, the pride of Lafayette, Ind., gets to go home again for another crack at the Colts, for the right to go to Super Bowl XLIV. "I guess if they gave us that win, this just gives us a chance to make it more legitimate. I don't see them throwing starters out of this game, so I think we're gonna get a great opportunity," Keller said after Jets 17, Chargers 14. "Playing for the Super Bowl is enough motivation, but all the doubters saying that that game was given to us and all that, we definitely want to put those things to rest, also. I can't wait to get back and play in front of the hometown crowd." Colts coach Jim Caldwell, of course, removed Peyton Manning late in the third"
Instincts Take Over as Sanchez Finds Keller
January 18
New York Times
 
"In the far corner of the Jets' victorious locker room, Dustin Keller sat in front of his locker, leaned forward and considered his place in franchise history. This seemed unusual for a second-year tight end. But Keller made an indelible play Sunday in the Jets' 17-14 divisional-round playoff victory over the Chargers, the kind that people will remember for a long time. "It hasn't really sunk in yet," Keller said. "Not something of that magnitude.""
Keller emerging at just the right time for NY Jets
January 13
Newark Star-Ledger
 
"Jets tight end Dustin Keller is finally out of the NFL's witness-protection program. Keller, who began the season with seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in his first two games, disappeared for nearly the entire season before resurfacing in last Saturday's 24-14 wild-card victory over the Bengals. The second-year pro had three catches for 99 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown and a 43-yarder that set up a field goal. He also had a textbook kick-out block that cleared the way for running back Shonn Greene on his 39-yard touchdown. ''I knew at some point it was going to come around,'' said Keller, who had a quiet 45 catches for 522 yards and two touchdowns this season, but also"
TE delivers Keller game
January 10
New York Post
 
"Mark Sanchez call his fourth-quarter connection to tight end Dustin Keller more of "a long handoff" than a pinpoint pass. Whatever it was, it was the biggest play in the Jets' 24-14 wild-card win yesterday in Cincinnati. Keller rambled for a critical 43-yard play on a second-and-8 from the Jets' 34-yard line with a little more than 10 minutes to go in the win over the Bengals. Playing in his first postseason game, having barely done anything offensively the last five weeks of the year, Keller exploded for three catches, 99 yards, a touchdown and his key fourth-quarter play — this after tallying nine catches for 69 yards in his five games combined. Read more:"
Fumble-itis hits Keller
November 30
New York Post
 
"Dustin Keller caught all four passes thrown his way yesterday and led the Jets with 68 receiving yards, but as much progress as he and Mark Sanchez have shown together lately, the tight end still had one regret after a 17-6 win over the Panthers. "I wish I could have that one back," Keller said of his third-quarter fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Carolina's Richard Marshall. At the time, the Jets led 14-3 and had driven down the field on the opening possession of the second half. Keller hauled in another pass and then tried to stretch the ball out to cross the goal line, but it was knocked out. "Dustin made a great catch, but he's got to know the situation in the game," coach"