Nashville, Tenn. ? Tennessee’s Brad Kassell, signed more than a year ago as a long snapper, will start at middle linebacker Saturday night against Cincinnati in a bid to win the job left vacant when Randall Godfrey was released.

Kassell, it turned out, had never been a long snapper. But he made the roster last season with his special teams work and now is competing with Frank Chamberlin and Rocky Calmus.

Kassell was undrafted after playing at North Texas, while the other two were draft choices. Calmus won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker while in college.

“This is Brad’s opportunity to show us what he can do, and it’s very close, too. There’s no front-runner now, and hopefully we’ll be able to make a decision next week,” coach Jeff Fisher said.

Lions

Allen Park, Mich. — Detroit Lions cornerback Dre’ Bly will miss Saturday’s preseason game against Cleveland because of a sprained ankle.

Bly missed Detroit’s first two exhibition games because of the injury, but had been hoping to play against Cleveland. He was listed as questionable as late as Wednesday, but Lions coach Steve Mariucci ruled him out after Thursday’s practice.

“Our main goal is to get Dre’ ready for the season opener against Arizona,” he said. “He practiced some this week, but we decided he wasn’t quite ready to be out there.”

Ravens

Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer rolls a football down his arm during practice. Palmer and the Bengals were preparing at training camp in Georgetown, Ky., for Saturday's exhibition game against Tennessee.

Owings Mills, Md. — Defensive end Michael McCrary announced his retirement Thursday. A seventh-round draft pick by Seattle in 1993, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound end had 71 sacks and 561 tackles during his 10-year career, making the Pro Bowl twice and earning a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens three years ago.

Chargers

Carson, Calif. — San Diego broke camp Thursday with a sigh of relief for a relatively healthy LaDainian Tomlinson.

The Pro Bowl running back gave the team a scare when he left Wednesday’s practice on a golf cart because of a bruised heel. He was back in uniform Thursday.

Tomlinson, the NFL’s second-leading rusher last year, didn’t do much work, but he reported little discomfort.

“It’s something I can fight through. If I had to play a game today, I could,” he said.

“It’s like a bruise on the back of my heel. It’s just a little sore; like being sore after being beat up after a game.”

The team didn’t do any additional tests, and Tomlinson could see limited action Saturday when the Chargers face the Houston Texans in an exhibition game.

Wide receiver David Boston, also bothered by a sore heel Wednesday, returned to practice. Starting cornerback Tay Cody pulled up because of a strained hamstring.

Bills

Orchard Park, N.Y. — Receivers coach Fred Graves was back at practice Thursday with the Bills after missing nearly a month following surgery for prostate cancer.

Graves returned with both a new outlook on football — “I knew I would miss it,” he said — and a new disregard for daytime television.

“TV is the worst thing in the world during the day,” Graves said, smiling. “There’s nothing on TV. You get all those infomercials and all that stuff. Yeah, I’m glad to be back with the team, coaching. That’s what I do.”