Shortly after the Cowboys scored a narrow 20-19 victory over Bengals Sunday, a barefoot Josh Brent was released from jail in Irving, Texas on $500,000 bond, and was placed on the Dallas reserve bench by the team, ESPN reports.
Brent was driving early the morning of Dec. 8 with teammate and best friend Jerry Brown when he crashed his car, fatally injuring Brown. Brent is currently charged with intoxicated manslaughter, and faces time in prison, as well as penalties from the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct and substance abuse policies.
"Jerry Brown was my very best friend, and I'm just trying to deal with his death right now," Brent said when questioned if he had anything to say to Brown's family as he was exiting the jail.
As the Washington Post notes, moving Brent to the reserved non-football injury list, "would clear a roster spot for the Cowboys and allow him access to the team's training facility, where he could have contact with teammates and coaches."
Attorney George Milner complained that Brent's bond was set "16 times higher than it would have been for anybody that doesn't play for the Dallas Cowboys."
He said the media has hounded his client enough for the time being. "He is torn up," Milner said. "It's not a good moment for anyone... He needs family around him."
"You can't get any tighter than those two," he said, crossing his index and middle fingers, the New York Daily News reported. "It was the closest family he had was Jerry Brown."
According to ESPN, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he is likely to meet with Brent soon.
The cowboys for their part have steadfastly supported Brent in the wake of the tragedy.
"I think we want to be able to contact him and him being able to contact his teammates," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said early Wednesday. "I think those things are important."
"What we want to do as an organization, as players, as coaches and this entire organization is let him know he should feel supported everywhere he turns," coach Jason Garrett said of Brent on Monday.
"That's what we want to express to him. It's a very challenging situation for him. He and Jerry are best friends. They have known each other since college. They were very close in college, very close since they've been here together, and it's a really, really difficult situation for him. We want to make him feel that there are people around him who can help him get through this thing day by day."
NFL commissioner Goodell says he's spoken with Mothers Against Drunk Driving CEO Debbie Weir and NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith to discuss what the league can do differently in helping educate players about the issue of drunk driving as well as offering different resources.
He says there's an issue with the punishment allowed under the collective bargaining agreement in regards to the NFL's substance abuse policy.
"I don't think it's a secret that we've long felt that discipline in this area needs to be revisited and escalated on a first offense and a second offense," Goodell said. "Hopefully that never happens -- but I think it's very important to have that."
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