Broncos Linebacker Will Be Back In Court This Week

The Denver Broncos could definitely use linebacker Jonathon Cooper on the field right now, but that’s not going to happen any time soon. According to Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post, Cooper will be back in court on Monday morning as part of a newly-scheduled motions hearing. 

The hearing will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday in Douglas County Court, per Gabriel. Cooper is currently facing a felony assault charge, along with several lesser charges stemming from altercations with a former girlfriend that led to a pair of arrests back in June. 

The linebacker pleaded not guilty to all charges in August, and he’s currently set to stand trial in the middle of November. Cooper remains on the commissioner’s exempt list, which prevents him from practicing or playing, but he is getting paid.

He’ll stay there until his court case is resolved as the NFL continues its investigation related to possible violations of the league’s Personal Conduct Policy. Coooper is allowed to be around the team’s facility, and he can work out and attend meetings.

The Broncos linebacker could also be suspended, but he’s already missed four games, with Denver scheduled to play two more this week on Sunday and Thursday.  

According to Gabriel, a suspension would count the games missed on the exempt list as “time served” toward a suspension, but Cooper would have to pay back the game checks he received because suspensions levied by the NFL are without pay.

The writer also speculated about the motions hearing possibly being related to some kind of resolution ofhis case, as that’s common practice during this kind of criminal investigation. This motions hearing wasn’t scheduled when Cooper’s court case was laid out back in August, hence the possibility. 

On the field, the Broncos definitely miss Cooper more than expected. The team spent training camp talking up the lines of linebackers Jonah Elliss and Que Robinson as players who might be able to account for at least some of Cooper’s production, which has been formidable, but so far that hasn’t happened. 

The Broncos haven’t been asked about this, as they have other matters to deal with that are more pressing. Denver is off to a 2-2 start, and they’re currently trying to jump start their sluggish offense while dealing with injuries to both starting cornerbacks as they prepare for their road game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, who are 0-4.