Jonathon Cooper has been on the practice field for the Broncos this week during organized team activities as the legal process plays out following his arrest last week on domestic violence charges.
The 28-year-old took part in Thursday’s practice, which was open to reporters, and took part in individual and team work during the Broncos’ non-padded session, though he has not been a full participant so far during OTAs.
Head coach Sean Payton afterward said the NFL, which investigates potential violations of the league’s personal conduct policy, takes the lead in matters like Cooper’s arrest.
“The league’s done a good job of kind of coming in and really taking over that responsibility,” Payton said Thursday in the first public comments by a team official since Cooper’s arrest a week ago. “We had a long visit with ‘Coop’ and now the process plays out. The league, obviously, being very much involved in that. We’ll stay abreast of that much like you all. I think thatap where itap at. We just go from there.”
Cooper and his girlfriend were both arrested following an incident that started with an argument over cheating allegations levied by his girlfriend, according to arrest affidavits for both. Cooper’s girlfriend took his phone and threw it across the room, then tried to look through it, according to police. Cooper grabbed the girlfriend by her upper arms and later braced his neck against hers during a struggle over the phone, according to an affidavit for Cooper’s arrest.
Cooper’s girlfriend also told a separate officer that Cooper had “grabbed her by the neck” and held her up against the wall for approximately a minute, according to the affidavit for her arrest. Cooper’s girlfriend also said he picked her up and threw her back on the ground approximately three times, and punched the wall “next to her face.”
The officer noted in the affidavit that the marks she observed on the woman’s body were not consistent with such an assault.
“As of this report, there is no probable cause for harassment or assault charges given conflicting statements and lack of specific physical evidence,”a Parker police officer wrote in Cooper’s affidavit.
Cooper is the first Broncos player known to be arrested since Payton was hired.
“Period,” Payton said.
“You’re always — when itap the offseason or itap the weekends, no news is always good news,” Payton added. “Knock on wood, we’ve had a long stretch where thatap been the case. Now, we’ll stay as informed as possible. We’ll follow the league’s guidelines and I’m sure a lot of that will be led by the local authorities’ guidelines.”
Cooper’s attorney said at a preliminary court hearing Monday that the defense does not intend to settle and looks forward to trial, which is currently slated to begin July 22.
Broncos veterans, including Cooper, would then be scheduled to report to training camp shortly after, somewhere around July 27.
Payton said he had not addressed Cooper’s arrest with his team.
“My instincts told me not to right away,” he said. “This time next week — we have three days of minicamp, and we’ll have a number of speakers.
“I think there will be a time to talk about it.”
