Denver Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper pleaded not guilty Monday morning in a Douglas County (Colorado) courtroom to misdemeanor domestic violence charges.
Cooper, 28, who was arrested along with his girlfriend late Thursday night by Parker (Colorado) police, will now have a motions hearing July 6 with the potential of a jury trial to start on July 22, according to court records. The Broncos are expected to open training camp in late July.
Cooper's attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said the defense doesn't plan to file a motion to dismiss the charges and requested a trial date "as early as possible," according to the Denver Post, to avoid conflict with his client's required attendance at training camp.
Cooper was held at the Douglas County Jail on Thursday night, into Friday morning, on the suspicion of criminal mischief with a domestic violence enhancer. Cooper appeared in the 23rd District Judicial Court on Friday morning and was later released on a personal recognizance bond that day.
Cooper's girlfriend was arrested on the suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence with an additional charge of petty criminal mischief.
According to records, Cooper was arrested by Parker police at 11:16 p.m. Thursday and formally booked into the Douglas County Jail at 2:38 a.m. Friday. The arrests came after an argument and physical confrontation between Cooper and his girlfriend over cellphones, and the phones were damaged during the argument.
In separate affidavits to police, the two gave vastly different accounts about the argument and confrontation.
According to Cooper's arrest affidavit, he had been confronted by his girlfriend over allegations of infidelity and, after his girlfriend had taken his cellphone from him and thrown it across the room, he had grabbed his girlfriend by the upper arm as he retrieved the phone. Cooper also told police he had "braced his neck against her neck'' during her attempt to get his phone.
Cooper's affidavit said after his girlfriend did not leave his apartment as he had demanded, he bit the phone and caused "disabling damage.'' His girlfriend's affidavit also included Cooper's damage to her phone because he had bitten it.
A Parker policeman also wrote in Cooper's affidavit that because of the conflicting reports between the two, "as of this report there is no probable cause for harassment or assault charges given conflicting statements and lack of specific evidence.''
Cooper's girlfriend told a second officer, according to the affidavit for her arrest, that Cooper had "grabbed her by the neck and held her against the wall for about a minute,'' picked her up and threw her on the ground three times as well as punched the wall next to her head. A police officer noted in the affidavit that marks observed on Cooper's girlfriend's neck and body were not consistent with an assault.
According to the girlfriend's affidavit, the officer "observed a small mark on [the woman's] neck, where she claimed [Cooper] grabbed her. I also observed scratches on [her] arm and a small cut on her hand. These markings and scratches did not appear consistent with a larger male lifting [her] up into the air by her throat as well as repeatedly being thrown to the ground. The small mark on [the woman's] neck did not appear to be consistent with the claim that [she] had been held up in the air by her throat by another individual.''
On Saturday, Cooper posted a Bible verse on his personal Instagram account and wrote, "I apologize to my family to my friends and my community ... And so many others.'' Cooper also added, "I realize posting a bible [quote] after something very serious happens does not just mean everything is okay.''
The Broncos released a statement Friday morning that, "we are aware of the matter and gathering more information.'' The NFL, which could punish Cooper under the league's personal conduct policy, said it had been in contact with the Broncos.
Cooper was a seventh-round pick by the Broncos in the 2021 draft and is set to enter his sixth season with the team. He was second on the team with eight sacks in 2025 as the Broncos' defense set a franchise record for sacks in a season (68).
Cooper, who has attended the team's offseason program, including Thursday's OTA practice, signed a four-year, $60 million contract extension in 2024.