Ex-NFL DT Josh Brent moved from jail to rehab

DALLAS - Former Dallas Cowboys tackle Josh Brent will spend at least 45 days in rehab following his release from jail in the drunken-driving death of a teammate and a return to his former team remains a possibility.

Brent was released Sunday after serving about five months in jail for the wreck that killed Cowboys practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown, his close friend and college teammate at Illinois. A judge ordered Brent to spend at least 45 days in a residential facility for substance abuse as part of his sentence of 10 years of probation.

Brent avoided prison time at trial - he faced up to 20 years - and at 26, he could presumably seek to re-enter the league. His agent, Peter Schaffer, declined Monday to discuss Brent's pro prospects.

"It's up to the treatment professionals as to what's best for him and he will do whatever they think is best," Schaffer said. "Nothing else matters right now."

Brent and Brown were headed home from a nightclub in December 2012 when Brent lost control of his Mercedes and crashed on a suburban Dallas highway. Officers arriving at the scene saw Brent trying to pull Brown's body from the wreckage.

Tests showed Brent's blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent, more than twice the state's legal limit for drivers. A prosecution expert estimated that the 320-pound lineman would have had to have as many as 17 drinks on the night of the crash.

Brent did not play after the crash and announced his retirement from the Cowboys before the trial. League spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday that Brent can apply for reinstatement through the office of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who must also consider whether to discipline Brent under the league's personal conduct policy.