Jonathon Cooper will be among the Broncos who play in the preseason opener Friday night in Atlanta, coach Sean Payton revealed Wednesday.
Cooper, who was arrested twice in June on domestic violence charges, has been a full participant in training camp. Payton said quarterback Bo Nix will not play Friday against the Falcons. When asked if Cooper would participate, the coach said he didn’t want to go through every player but confirmed the linebacker would go.
The NFL is reviewing Cooper’s situation for potential violations of the league’s personal conduct policy, which could ultimately result in a suspension. While that review is in progress, the Broncos have treated Cooper like a regular team member in terms of practice reps. Now that stance will continue into preseason games.
“You have to (treat him like normal),” Payton said. “You have to, and keep gathering the information.”
Cooper is facing four active charges in Douglas County District Court, including felony second-degree assault by strangulation. He did not participate in the Broncos’ minicamp in mid-June, which came just days after he was arrested for a second time for violating the protection order from the initial June 4 arrest.
The 28-year-old Cooper is set to be arraigned on Aug. 31, when he will need to appear in person in a Douglas County courtroom three days after the Broncos’ final preseason game and exactly two weeks before Denver’s regular-season opener, Monday, Sept. 14, in Kansas City.
Cooper was in his usual place as the starting strongside linebacker when the Broncos released their first unofficial preseason depth chart Wednesday morning ahead of practice.
Broncos work out veteran safety: The Broncos had veteran safety Taylor Rapp in for a workout Wednesday, according to the league’s transaction wire.
The workout is an interesting one because Denver’s depth chart behind starters Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones looks wide open and Rapp has played a ton of football. He’s appeared in 93 games and started 72 over seven NFL seasons. Rapp, 28, was a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 and played four season there before three more in Buffalo.
Rapp started the first six games of the year for the Bills last year but then had surgery on his knee and did not appear again for the club.
