Lions lineman Keyton headed to injured reserve

The Lions have yet to make the transaction official, but offensive lineman Darren Keyton is heading to injured reserve.

“He’s not going to be back this year,” coach Jim Caldwell said Saturday. “I think the doctors have him in the last phase of his evaluation, but he has a pretty significant knee injury.”

Keyton suffered the right knee injury in the second quarter of Thursday’s exhibition win over the New York Jets. He needed the assistance of a trainer to walk off the field.

Caldwell described the injury as “a patellar tendon issue.” A ruptured patellar tendon typically requires several months of recovery.

Keyton, a 25-year-old Traverse City native, is in his third NFL season out of Central Michigan and spent most of his first two seasons on the Lions practice squad, though he was active in Week 17 last year.

With Keyton heading to IR, the Lions worked out free-agent offensive linemen after practice Saturday.

jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com

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