Two mystery defenses will take the field on Sunday when the Buffalo Bills host the Miami Dolphins.

Each team employs a form of the 3-4 defense that has become all the rage in the NFL. But they aren't quite sure how each other will deploy their schemes.

Bills defensive coordinator George Edwards coached linebackers in Miami last year. Buffalo linebacker Reggie Torbor and tight end David Martin also are former Dolphins.

But there is only so much they can offer the offense in its game plan, according to Bills coach Chan Gailey. Dolphins coach Tony Sparano added that his team's familiarity with Edwards and vice-versa won't make a difference.

"Obviously I know George, but he was part of a lot of defensive philosophies and he is a good football coach," Sparano said this week in a conference call with the local media. "He's another guy who knows how to use personnel very well. He did a tremendous job of that when he was here with our people. I would say that knowing him is one thing, and I'm glad I do know him as a person because he's a heck of a guy. But as far as whether it will help you win a football game, I don't think so."

Like the Bills, the Dolphins have a new coordinator in Mike Nolan, who replaced Paul Pasqualoni. Nolan tutored some good defenses in Baltimore, San Francisco and Denver, which ranked seventh in the NFL last season.

The Bills have studied the Broncos' game film to gain some insight on what Nolan likes to do.

"We look at Denver quite a bit," Gailey said. "We look at [the Dolphins'] preseason and try to meld the two thought processes together, and it's not easy to be honest with you. They were very vanilla in the preseason. They did not show a lot of stuff and so we have to look back at last year's Denver stuff to get an idea of where some things might be and some things we might have to prepare for offensively."

One player on the Bills' roster who knows Nolan is Andra Davis, a starting inside linebacker for the Broncos last season. But he said there isn't much information he can give the Bills' offensive coaches.

"They might ask little things like what tendencies were on certain formations or certain times," Davis said. "But it's nothing that the film doesn't already show. I think [Nolan is] very aggressive. That's what our mind-set was in Denver.

"But Nolan has been in this league for a while. He did the best he could with the group he had out in Denver. In Miami, it's a whole new group. When he was in San Francisco, we did it totally different than what they did because we've got different players and different personalities, so he had to switch stuff around."

Sparano said Week One is the hardest week to prepare for an opponent. That's especially the case when teams have new coaches and schemes. Teams have a better handle on things once opponents have a couple of games under their belt.

But until then, all coaches are reduced to guessing what the opposition will do.

"Hopefully it's an educated guess," Gailey said, "but it may not be."

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The Bills could be without two of their most experienced linebackers Sunday.

Kawika Mitchell, the team's No. 3 inside linebacker, did not practice Thursday after injuring his foot the day before. He was scheduled to undergo tests. Gailey didn't sound optimistic about Mitchell playing against the Dolphins.

"Since he didn't work [Thursday] and we're giving him more tests, you'd have to put him more toward the doubtful category," Gailey said after practice. "But I don't have to do that until [today]."

The prognosis on starting outside linebacker Reggie Torbor isn't promising either. After practicing Monday, Torbor has missed the last two days due to a chest injury that kept him out the last two preseason games.

"It's looking a little dim for him at this point, but we're still holding out hope at this time," Gailey said.

The only other Bill not practicing was rookie outside linebacker Antonio Coleman.

In Miami, starting inside linebacker Channing Crowder is looking very iffy for Sunday after sitting out practice again Thursday. He has been out since mid-August with a lower abdominal injury.

Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long practiced on a limited basis with a sore ankle. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall was added to the Dolphins' injury report with an ankle issue, but he participated fully in practice.

The Dolphins released center Jake Grove, whom they signed to a $29.5 million free agent contract last year.

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Sunday's game is a sellout and will be televised locally

awilson@buffnews.comnull