Cowboys’ Brent back from suspension
Irving, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Defensive tackle Josh Brent returned to the Dallas Cowboys’ active roster Tuesday after completing a 10-game suspension for a 2012 conviction of intoxication manslaughter.
Brent was reinstated by the league after successfully completing substance abuse treatment and a counseling program for his role in the death of Cowboys teammate Jerry Brown, who did not survive injuries sustained when Brent crashed his Mercedes while driving with a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit in December of 2012.
The 26-year-old Brent has been practicing with the team for the past two weeks, though it is unclear whether he’ll play in Dallas’ upcoming game at the New York Giants on Nov. 23. The Cowboys are currently on their bye week.
Brent has not appeared in an NFL game since the accident, for which he served a 180-day jail sentence and was given 10 years of probation.
He briefly retired during the summer of 2013 while awaiting trial on the intoxication manslaughter charges, but was re-signed by Dallas just prior to the start of this season, the same time NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Brent’s 10-game ban.
Brent originally joined the Cowboys as a seventh-round pick of the 2010 draft out of the University of Illinois, where he also was a teammate of Brown’s. The 320-pound lineman emerged as a key rotational defender for Dallas during the 2012 season, starting five games and compiling 22 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks over 12 contests prior to his arrest.
In 44 overall games with Dallas, Brent has registered 44 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks.
Veteran linebacker Tim Dobbins, who was inactive in two games after being signed on Oct. 29, was released to make room for Brent’s reinstatement.
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