PITTSFORD — There's a cliche that it takes two qualities to make a football player:

good feet and courage.

Jon Corto displayed those traits in abundance in making the Buffalo Bills' roster last

season, because he played the linebacker position at a mere 205 pounds.

This season the Orchard Park native is a little better equipped to deal with the contact

around the line of scrimmage. Corto looks noticeably bigger at 220 pounds, which should help

his bid to make the roster for a second straight season.

"I put on about 15 pounds of good weight," Corto said. "Last year I was 205 to 200, so it's

a big difference. It helps me sustain, and I'm more confident. I don't get pushed back. I

pride myself on being physical. Even 220 is a little undersized, but if you run in there and

you don't care [about contact], you can play."

"He's put on some weight, which is a positive," said linebackers coach Matt Sheldon. "But

he still retains that quickness that we like underneath [in coverage] and short-area movement

in the box."

Corto beat the odds to make the 53-man roster last season, given he was an undrafted

product of Division I-AA Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.

He proved to be an asset on special teams, finishing fourth in tackles on coach Bobby

April's units, which ranked No.1 overall in the NFL. In the season-opening win over Seattle,

Corto forced a fumble on a kickoff return and made a block to help clear Roscoe Parrish's path

to a punt-return touchdown. He had a key block on Leodis McKelvin's kickoff-return TD vs.

Cleveland.

This year he would like to prove he can also be a worthy backup at linebacker.

He worked all offseason with Bills strength and conditioning coach John Allaire. He also

worked out downtown at the fitness club Body Blocks with trainer Bob Bateson. And he spent

several weeks this summer working out with Atlanta Falcons linebacker Coy Wire, the former

Bill, near Harrisburg, Pa.

"Coy's a freak," Corto said. "He does some really unique things — training in sand

pits, training barefoot in the rivers and doing different drills on hills. It's a lot of

functional strength."

Corto faces another battle to make the roster. He's playing on the third team at

strong-side linebacker behind starter Keith Ellison and rookie second-stringer Nic Harris.

Marcus Buggs and Ashlee Palmer have been the other second-string linebackers. Now that Palmer

is out with an ankle injury, second-year man Alvin Bowen has moved up to the second-string

weak-side spot. The Bills could keep six or seven linebackers.

Corto already has survived beyond two other linebackers from last year's roster (Blake

Costanzo was cut, and John DiGiorgio is on injured reserve), and strong special teams could be

his ticket on the roster again.

Corto likes playing on the strong side (the side where the offensive tight end lines up) in

the Bills' defense.

"There's a little bit more man to man coverage, and you've got a three-technique guy in

front of you," Corto said, referring to the defensive tackle playing opposite the outside

shoulder of the guard. "So I don't feel as many linemen coming off at me. Whereas when you're

to the weak side, you have the bubble there (a bigger gap between the defensive tackle and

end), and sometimes you get a lineman in your face."

While Corto played linebacker in college, the Bills had him playing safety last offseason

up until the midway point of training camp.

"We're working with him on being consistent," Sheldon said. "He's got to be consistent,

being his first full year in the linebacking position.

"We have additional vocabulary that a safety doesn't have. We get so much into the

in-the-box run reads. So that was completely new to him, and it takes time. So that's what

we're still doing now, but at a sped-up pace."

"I'm just trying to contribute on special teams and let the coaches know I'm ready to play

linebacker," Corto said.

The Bills released defensive back Dustin Fox Wednesday. The fourth-year veteran out of Ohio

State played in 11 games over the last two seasons for the Bills, recording seven tackles as a

reserve. Fox has been hampered by injury during training camp this year.