At end of tough week, Cowboys face another must-win

• Players touched by comments of Jerry Brown's mother at her son's memorial
• Team owner Jerry Brown says team has talked with Brown's family about support for his unborn child
• With the Steelers in town on Sunday, both 7-6 teams feel their playoff chances are on the line

IRVING, Texas -- Football might be the easy part for the Dallas Cowboys.

Their season is on the line as they approach another must-win game Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The effectiveness of one of their biggest weapons, receiver Dez Bryant, is in question as he nurses a broken left index finger. The run defense needs to stiffen. They need to start faster, too, given all the recent comeback jobs.

There's added drama with the case of former Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff, who underwent sports hernia surgery on Thursday – and recently had a heated, face-to-face exchange with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Scrutiny. Pressure. Controversy. The Cowboys have been there and done that.

But not quite like now.

The team is still trying to come to grips with the tragic circumstances of last weekend, when practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown was killed early Saturday during an alcohol-related, one-car accident in a vehicle driven by nose tackle Josh Brent.

A day later, the Cowboys were in Cincinnati, where they staged yet another comeback to beat the Bengals, 20-19.

Memorial service, Tuesday. Back to practice, Wednesday.

"The life part of this thing has been very challenging," coach Jason Garrett said.

"It's been an emotional deal," tight end Jason Witten says. "There's not a playbook for what happened. You really don't know how you're going to handle a situation until adversity hits. It's been good to see guys stick together, because you hear it all the time: Be a family."

The line of questioning in Garrett's pre-practice press conference illustrated the range of issues and emotional tightrope for the Cowboys (7-6). One minute, the coach offered his view that Bryant's status is day to day. The next minute, he was asked for a reaction to reports that Brent's blood-alcohol level was 0.18 – more than twice the legal limit in Texas.

"I don't want to get into the specifics of that at all," Garrett said. "There are going to be a lot of details that come out, what exactly happened. We'll continue to support Josh."

Brent, 25, is facing intoxication manslaughter charges, and faces a prison term of two to 20 years if convicted. The Cowboys placed him on the non-football illness/injury list, which allows him to receive counseling and other support from the team.

Since he was released Sunday on a $500,000 bond, Brent has been a regular at the team's headquarters and several teammates have expressed that they will maintain hands-on support.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says details of the team's support for Brent are still under consideration, including whether the team will continue to pay his salary, slated at $540,000 for the 2012 season. Players on the NFI list are not guaranteed their salaries, as would be the case for a player who is out for the season due to injury.

At the moment, Brent doesn't have any requirements mandated by the team.

"The memorial service was just on Tuesday, so it's early in the process," Jones told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday, when asked about Brent. "The first thing we're committed to do is to honor the life of Jerry Brown. He hasn't been buried yet."

Jones said that he has had conversations with Brown's family regarding support for Brown's unborn child. The team also is considering how it will honor Brown on Sunday, Jones says.

'Take care of our brothers'

Brown's corner locker, meanwhile, still hasn't been touched. The practice jersey, shorts and shoes remain as he left it, an eerie reminder of his presence.

Across the room, Brent's locker also remains intact. Brown and Brent were college teammates and roommates at Illinois, a connection amplified since the tragedy.

"Jerry Brown's mother told us that Josh is like her son," said fullback Lawrence Vickers, whose locker is near Brent's stall. Brown's mother, Stacey Jackson, attended the Tuesday memorial service with Brent at her side.

"That was real," Vickers said. "One of her wishes is for us to learn from this incident and take care of our brothers. This is something that is never going to go away. So you understand that and you just deal with it. You console yourself, console the families and console your brothers."

Cowboys players have had access to grief counselors provided by the NFL to complement the team's staff psychologist. It is unclear how many players have opted for counseling, yet it is obvious that the events of the past week and its implications – from the personal responsibility for players for their off-the-field decisions to criticism of the NFL's alcohol policy – cannot be ignored.

"You never know what can happen in life," says linebacker DeMarcus Ware. "You've got to take advantage of every opportunity that you have."

Another tragic warning

Jones seemed frustrated that Brent, after a night of drinking last Friday, didn't use a resource provided by the team. In addition to a safe-ride program provided by the NFL Players Association, the Cowboys have two limousine services available for players and a team security specialist on call to pick up players who may be impaired, in addition to handling other emergencies.

Jones said this year the team staffer has received seven calls from players to arrange for pickup service.

"We talk about it all the time," Ware says. "The NFL's got a (number) you can call. You have taxi service. Limo services."

Ware, standing in a hallway outside the locker room, stopped in mid-sentence. A pack of media was hustling to him, with TV cameras and bright lights.

The Cowboys are used to the spotlight, but the life-and-death issues that have been hammered home the past week have heightened sensitivities.

The team learned of the accident and Brown's death last Saturday afternoon, when Garrett broke the news to the team before their flight to the Cincinnati airport. A day later, they overcame a nine-point deficit to win on a Dan Bailey field goal as time expired.

"It's not like this whole thing went away because we won a football game," said defensive end Marcus Spears. "But everybody has to get back to focusing on what we have to do as far as living our lives and doing our job. At the end of the day, it's how we feed our families."

The Cowboys have won four of their past five games to put themselves in the playoff picture with three games remaining. There is no room for error.

As respectful as the Cowboys have been in light of tragedy – "First, it's dealing with the loss of life and supporting Josh, then it's preparing Pittsburgh," Jones said – Sunday's game is huge.

There's no escaping that a loss might essentially end Dallas' season.

"We've got to win 'em all," Witten says. "It's that easy."

Or that hard.

The high stakes are a reason why Bryant is aiming to play despite suffering a fractured finger last week.

"We understand that this is an important game for both teams," said quarterback Tony Romo, mindful that the Steelers, 7-6, are in a similar position. "We've been playing in a lot of these for the last five or six weeks. It feels like all the others."

In some ways, it feels like all the others. In other ways, probably not, given the emotions of the past week.

Romo understands the emotional toll the team has paid, but won't dare project what that will all mean on Sunday.

"You never know it until you go through it sometimes."