CINCINNATI -- Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent was set to make his sixth start of the season Sunday. Instead he will post bond from an Irving, Texas, jail after being charged with intoxicated manslaughter after a car accident in which teammate Jerry Brown was killed early Saturday morning. 
 
 If found guilty, Brent could face two to 20 years of prison time. 
 
 According to Irving police, Brent's car was traveling at a high rate of speed on a State Highway 114 service road before it hit the outside curb at approximately 2:30 a.m. The car flipped at least one time and skidded an estimated 900 feet before coming to rest in the middle of the service road, police said. 
 
 When the police arrived, Brent was attempting to pull Brown, a practice squad linebacker, from the burning Mercedes. 
 
 Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz said officers conducted a field-sobriety test on Brent and arrested him. 
 
 Brown was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was 25. 
 
 "I am devastated and filled with grief," Brent said in a statement through his agent, Peter Schaffer. "Filled with grief for the loss of my close friend and teammate, Jerry Brown. I am also grief-stricken for his family, friends and all who were blessed enough to have known him. I will live with this horrific and tragic loss every day for the rest of my life. My prayers are with his family, our teammates and his friends at this time." 
 
 Argumaniz said Brent was being held without bond. Brent, a three-year veteran, was booked in the Irving city jail at 4:14 a.m. Saturday. His bond will be set Sunday morning. 
 
 "We are deeply saddened by the news of this accident and the passing of Jerry Brown," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. "At this time, our hearts and prayers and deepest sympathies are with the members of Jerry's family and all of those who knew him and loved him." 
 
 Jones on Sunday said he had spoken with Brown's mother. 
 
 In an interview Sunday morning with Fox Sports, Jones said the Cowboys' focus has been on Brown since his death. 
 
 "Our team loved him. They certainly are conscious of him and want his family to know and have as much of them as they can give," he said. "At the same time, they know that one of the best things they can do for him and his memory is to come to the game today, is go out and play well." 
 
 There was a moment of silence before Sunday's game at Cincinnati to honor Brown. The Cowboys were expected to have a moment of silence in the locker room before the game as well. 
 
 Police received 911 calls from motorists who saw the upside-down vehicle, but they did not immediately have any eyewitnesses to the wreck, Argumaniz said. 
 
 Argumaniz wasn't sure if the vehicle was a car or an SUV and said it wasn't known how fast the vehicle was travelling. The road has a 45 mph limit. 
 
 "I can say investigators are certain they were traveling well above the posted speed limit," Argumaniz said. 
 
 A call to Brown's agent has not been returned. 
 
 Shortly after 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the Cowboys quietly filed into the Hilton Netherlands Plaza only hours after learning of Brown's death. With their thoughts on Brown, Few Cowboys acknowledged the fans cheering at the top of a stairwell. 
 
 Players were made aware of the accident at their Valley Ranch facility in the morning and told of Brown's death by coach Jason Garrett on the team plane at approximately 1:15 p.m. after non-team personnel were asked to de-plane. 
 
 Team spokesman Rich Dalrymple said the flight was "quiet, much more than normal." 
 
 "We're all just trying to get focused for tomorrow," backup linebacker Alex Albright said. "Guys are really just focused on football and coach (Jason Garrett) did a good job of addressing, we need to remember Jerry and what's happened, but our season is still on the line and we still need to go forward and work toward that season we want to have." 
 
 The team has been in contact with the NFL and Dr. Jacqualene Stephens, the Cowboys' mental health consultant, made the trip with the team to Cincinnati. 
 
 "We have been in contact with the Cowboys and have deployed staff members and our independent professional counselors to assist the team in dealing with this tragedy," the NFL said in a statement. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of Jerry Brown and extend our condolences to his family, friends, and the Cowboys organization." 
 
 Brent had been starting for the Cowboys with nose tackle Jay Ratliff sidelined by a groin injury. The Cowboys promoted nose tackle Rob Callaway off the practice squad Saturday and placed Orlando Scandrick on injured reserve. 
 
 "I liked Jerry a lot," Albright said. "Got to know him these past five weeks and he's a really quiet kid but after the first couple of weeks he really opened up and Coach pointed it out: he came to work every day, didn't complain, he never gave any guff. He was just always ready to work and I liked Jerry a lot and that's all I can say. It's just tough not having him here." 
 
 The Cowboys signed Brown to their practice squad Oct. 24, but he hasn't been on the active roster. He was released from the Colts' practice squad Oct. 20. Brown played in one game for the Colts, a loss to the New York Jets on Oct. 14. 
 
 "Sad news for the Illini #Family today," Illinois coach Tim Beckman tweeted. "Jerry Brown, former Illini and current NFL player has passed away. Keep him in your prayers." 
 
 Former Illinois coach Ron Zook said Brent was trying to help Brown make it in the NFL. 
 
 "It was Jerry's dream, and Josh was trying to help him any way he could," Zook said. 
 
 Zook said he spoke with Schaffer, who had made contact with Brent. 
 
 "He said Josh was distraught, and he didn't care about himself or what was happening to him," Zook said. "All he cared about was Jerry's family." 
 
 Cora Daniel, the grandmother of Brown's fiancee, Leslie Hernandez, said the couple met at the University of Illinois. 
 
 "Jerry was a beautiful person I couldn't say anything bad about Jerry at all," Daniel said. 
 
 "He was the first guy she ever introduced to me and her grandfather to," Daniel said. "So we knew he would be the guy she would marry." 
 
 This is the second time since 2003 a Cowboys player has been involved in a fatal car accident. On Jan. 14, 2003, Dwayne Goodrich, a second-round pick in 2000, was involved in a hit-and-run accident in which two people were killed. 
 
 Goodrich was convicted later that year of two counts of criminally negligent homicide and was released from prison in October 2011. 
 
 Information from ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon, ESPNDallas.com's Calvin Watkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Josh Brent is facing an intoxication manslaughter charge after a one-vehicle accident that killed linebacker Jerry Brown, a member of the team's practice squad. 
 
 Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz said the accident happened about 2:20 a.m. Saturday in the Dallas suburb. Argumaniz says Brent was speeding when the vehicle hit a curb and flipped at least once. 
 
 Argumaniz says Brown was found unresponsive at the scene and pronounced dead at a hospital. 
 
 The police spokesman says officers conducted a field sobriety test on Brent and arrested him. The charge was upgraded after Brown was pronounced dead. 
 
 The Cowboys didn't immediately respond to an email request for comment. ||||| Jerry Brown Jr. and Josh Brent were best friends and college teammates who, after experiencing tough times at the University of Illinois, were finally beginning to taste success with the Dallas Cowboys. 
 
 But the roommates’ promising plans came to a tragic halt early Saturday when the 2007 Mercedes they were in crashed near the site of the old Texas Stadium, killing Brown. Irving police arrested Brent, the driver, on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter. 
 
 “It is a shock and it is a tragedy that two lives have been interrupted the way that they have,” said Keith Gilmore, the defensive line coach at the University of Illinois, who had worked with Brent and Brown there. “You just wish more for both of those young men.” 
 
 Brown, 25, was a linebacker on the Cowboys’ practice squad. Brent, 24, had been slated to start at nose tackle in Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. 
 
 Head coach Jason Garrett told the team about the tragedy about 1:15 p.m. Saturday, moments before the Cowboys left for Ohio. Receivers coach Jimmy Robinson described the mood on the flight as “very subdued, pretty quiet.” 
 
 The team psychologist made the trip, and the Cowboys coordinated with the NFL to provide more counselors if necessary. 
 
 Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the organization was “deeply saddened.” 
 
 “At this time, our hearts and prayers and deepest sympathies are with the members of Jerry’s family and all of those who knew him and loved him,” Jones said in a statement. 
 
 The two players reportedly had partied with teammates and celebrities at a Dallas nightclub shortly before the crash. 
 
 According to police, Brent and Brown were speeding west in the 1400 block of the East State Highway 114 service road around 2:21 a.m. Brent’s car “hit the outside curb” and traveled about 900 feet before coming to rest upside down in the middle of the road. 
 
 “Our investigators are certain that they were traveling well above the posted speed limit, and they base that on the physical evidence that is out on the scene — gouge marks, skid marks, where the vehicle initially impacted the curb and where the vehicle came to rest,” said Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz. The posted speed limit was 45 mph, he said. 
 
 Arriving officers saw Brent trying to drag his teammate from the burning car. Brown, unresponsive, was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The small fire was quickly extinguished. 
 
 Brent had minor injuries, mostly scrapes, police said. He failed field sobriety tests and was taken to a hospital. He was later booked into the Irving jail on the second-degree felony charge, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Authorities were awaiting results of blood alcohol tests. 
 
 Brent remained in the jail late Saturday. Police expected bail to be set Sunday morning. 
 
 The player released a statement late Saturday through his agent, saying he was grief-stricken for his friend, his friend’s family "and all who were blessed enough to have known him. I will live with this horrific and tragic loss every day for the rest of my life.” 
 
 The circumstances bring back memories of former Cowboys cornerback Dwayne Goodrich, who was sentenced to 12 1/2 years for the hit-and-run deaths of two good Samaritans in 2003. Goodrich was paroled in October 2011. 
 
 This isn’t Brent’s first brush with trouble. The Bloomington, Ill., native was arrested in that state in 2009 on a drunken driving charge. He pleaded guilty, received two years of probation and spent a month behind bars, according to published reports. Bad grades prevented his return to the University of Illinois, and he declared for the NFL supplemental draft, where he was taken by the Cowboys. He played in all 16 games his rookie year. 
 
 In 2010, Brent told his hometown newspaper, The Pantagraph, that he had learned from his failings. 
 
 “You’re able to sit back and look at your mistakes and realize why they were mistakes,” he said then. “You’re able to fully comprehend and understand where the mistakes were made, and not just finding where to place the blame.” 
 
 Brown, a St. Louis native, played two years as a defensive lineman at Illinois. He also struggled academically and left in 2008 after his sophomore season but was undrafted out of college. After struggling to make it into the NFL, he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts this season as a free agent and rotated between the practice squad and the regular roster before being released. He joined the Cowboys in October. 
 
 “He just kept plugging away and it seemed like he was making headway,” said Gilmore, the players’ former college coach. Gilmore said Brent and Brown had been thrilled to be reunited as Cowboys. “It was a dream come true for those guys to think that they would have an opportunity to play pro football together,” he said. 
 
 Family members of Brown said they were devastated. 
 
 “As long as he was playing football, he loved it,” said his maternal grandmother, Theresa Clark. “It meant a lot to him. … I know we all like to talk good about our grandchildren, but you know what, he was just one in a million.” 
 
 Clark had recently learned that Brown was expecting a child, something he reflected on in a recent Facebook post. 
 
 “I think of how bad I want a family ... and how the fast life isn’t as fun as it use to be after living it for so long,” Brown wrote. “I mean I do have my lil one coming soon and ... I’m overly excited to c her and b everything for her.” 
 
 Staff writers Rainer Sabin, David Moore and Julieta Chiquillo contributed to this story. 
 
 mwatkins@dallasnews.com, teiserer@dallasnews.com 
 
 BACKGROUND: Player profiles 
 
 Josh Brent 
 
 Nose tackle Josh Brent, 24, was selected by Dallas in the seventh round of the supplemental draft in July 2010. 
 
 Since joining the Cowboys, Brent has made 44 tackles, contributed 11/2 sacks and forced a fumble. 
 
 Brent’s role increased this season because starter Jay Ratliff, a four-time Pro Bowler, has missed six games because of injuries. 
 
 With Ratliff ruled out Sunday at Cincinnati, Brent had been scheduled to start for the sixth time in his career. 
 
 This season, Brent, who is under contract through 2013, played 320 snaps — the second-most on the defensive line. 
 
 Before joining the Cowboys, Brent played at the University of Illinois from 2007 to 2009. He started 12 games as a junior after being arrested in February 2009 for a DUI that resulted in a 30-day jail term. After losing his academic eligibility, he enrolled in Parkland College (Ill.) in January 2010. 
 
 Jerry Brown Jr. 
 
 Jerry Brown Jr., 25, joined the Cowboys’ practice squad on Oct. 24. Four days earlier, he had been cut from Indianapolis’ practice squad. 
 
 The linebacker appeared in one game for the Colts this season. He had joined that team after playing with the San Antonio Talons of the Arena Football League. 
 
 Brown had previously played for the Jacksonville Sharks of the AFL and had also been a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. 
 
 Before turning pro, Brown had been a defensive end at Illinois, where he played two seasons and was a teammate of Brent. Academic problems had derailed Brown’s college career before the 2009 season.
– Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent faces charges of manslaughter and drunken driving after an overnight car crash that killed a member of the team's practice squad, reports AP. Police say Brent was speeding when his car hit a curb and flipped at least once about 2:20am in Irving. Passenger Jerry Brown, 25, a linebacker on the Cowboys' practice squad was killed, reports the Dallas Morning News. Brent, a three-year veteran, had a previous drunk-driving arrest in 2009, reports ESPN. He was not on the team's flight to Cincinnati for tomorrow's game.