"That was ridiculous on his part. It should be a fineable offense. That's just not part of football -- hitting a defenseless player in his knee, that's something we all dread as players. That's my nightmare,'' Gonzalez told USA TODAY Sports. "Hit me in my head (instead).
"Any player who does that, I don't like it at all. I have no respect for that."
He added: "Dustin Keller is a friend of mine and you just ruined a guy's career because you went low and at his knee like that. You never go at a guy's knee. Never.''
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"I saw his (Swearinger's) remark, 'That's just football,' and he showed a little bit of grief for the guy I'm not buying it at all,'' Gonzalez said. "Don't tell me that the rules prohibit you from hitting a guy up top. You have a whole target area above his knee up to his neck that you can hit. I've watched that play a bunch of times.
"I'd rather have a guy hit me head than knife at my knee. You're talking about a career-ending injury. It's going to be so hard for Dustin to come back off of that. It should be a fineable offense, just like going for the head is.
"If a guy is not looking and you go and knife at his knee like that especially in a preseason game as well. It was upsetting,'' Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez hopes the hit proves to be a teaching moment for defenders and officials going forward.
"I just don't want defenders to be able to hide behind, 'Well, I can't hit high. I have to go low.' No, you don't,'' Gonzalez said. "That's not what the rule is saying at all. It's not saying to go low.
"I keep seeing the debate (on TV) and all these people saying, 'They're forcing defenders to go low.' No, they're not. That play was ridiculous. All you have to do is hit him right in his waist and knock him back."