Expectations for Keller are no laughing matter

Dustin Keller is a master jokester, someone who can't get enough yucks.

He loves playing the role of a comedian, doing whatever he can to conjure up a few laughs while also letting everyone know that whatever verbal cracks they toss his way will be swatted down. So it was no surprise to see him mixing it up with Mark Sanchez, Nick Mangold and David Clowney on Twitter during the Jets' 70-plus mile trek to Hofstra Wednesday, busting their chops to see who could get the last laugh after they kept kidding with him about the size of his noggin.

"It's a lot of fun, especially when we are on a long bus ride that's boring," Keller said Wednesday. "We want to get the fans involved with it. Everybody was trying to gang up on me - Mangold, Sanchez and Clowney. But they still can't hold me, I have the best jokes and the most for them.

"I don't care how many people gang up on me, I'm going to win every single time. And Sanchez, the only reason he comes close to winning is because he has like 200,000 followers. But I still come out on top every time."

That's the same mentality Keller is ready to adopt on the football field as he embarks on his third NFL season. The tight end, who's yet to miss a game as a pro, has shown flashes in his first two campaigns, really coming on during the Jets' playoff run last season.

He became the first player in franchise history to score touchdowns in three straight playoffs contests. That ties him with Wesley Welker for the most postseason receiving touchdowns in team history.

Keller has averaged 47 receptions and 529 yards in his initial two season, but expects this to be a breakout year because he's entering his second season with the same quarterback.

"Yeah, I think this is my time," said Keller, who was a beast in the red zone in practice Wednesday with five touchdowns. "My first year was with [Brett] Favre, obviously I'm still trying to feel out the NFL and understand it. And then you go from an 18-year veteran to a rookie in the next year. So I had to feel Sanchez out more.

"I think this is the year. We have a good feeling for each other. We know what each other is going to do. So this has to be the one."

Keller's biggest hangup has been his blocking, but he's worked hard to improve in that area. He's honed in more on his technique - something necessary because he's not an overly large guy at 6-2, 248 pounds. Tight ends coach Mike Devlin has been in Keller's ear.

"I told him, you don't have to be a stone cold killer," Devlin said. "But if you get your hands on people and use your speed ... with him and the threat of the pass, they play him a little different than a [Matthew]Mulligan or a Ben Hartsock, so he can use that to his advantage."

Something else Keller uses to his advantage: Hartsock. The blocking tight end is Keller's version of Rosetta Stone.

"Devlin gets in there and starts taking real fast sometimes - it's like a different language," Keller said. "Then Ben kind of slows it down, like this is what he's trying to say."

By becoming a better blocker, opponents won't be able to figure out the Jets are going to pass the ball, which has usually been the case when he's in there.

"I feel like it's to my advantage when guys think I'm going out for a pass play and I just get up and hit him in his mouth," Keller said, "that's to my advantage."

That advantage is what has Rex Ryan believing Keller is about to bust out in 2010.

Said Ryan: "I expect a huge year from Dustin."