Outside Linebacker · Denver Broncos

Jonathon Cooper

No. 0 · 6th season

Cooper wasn't at minicamp. His trial date is right before camp starts.

There is a calendar problem here, and it is not a small one. Jonathon Cooper, who rushes the edge for the Denver Broncos, entered a not guilty plea to a domestic violence charge on Monday. His trial is set for July 22 — right on the doorstep of Broncos training camp. The week before that court date, he was excused from the team's mandatory spring sessions.

Cooper's legal situation has more than one layer. This was his second arrest in as many weeks. His girlfriend was arrested at the same time; those charges were later dropped. His lawyer had a strong reaction to that development, though what shape that reaction takes in court remains to be seen.

Head coach Sean Payton confirmed the excusal after practice. By accounts of those who heard him, his tone carried something the initial reports had missed — exactly what that something was is now something the whole organization is sitting with.

For Cooper, the next few weeks are not really about football. July 22 comes first. Whatever happens in that courtroom shapes what comes after.

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