Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper, who was arrested last week and charged with a misdemeanor after his girlfriend accused him of domestic violence, is now facing a more serious felony charge.
Court records show that Cooper faces a felony charge of second-degree assault, according to 9 News in Denver.
Cooper and his girlfriend were both arrested when police were called to an incident in which his girlfriend said he grabbed her by the throat, while he said she took his phone.
Broncos coach Sean Payton said yesterday that he has talked to Cooper but hasn’t addressed the entire team about the incident. Payton said the league takes the lead on matters like this.
“I think the league has done a good job of coming in and really taken over that responsibility,” Payton said. “We had a long visit with Coop and now the process plays out. The league obviously will be very much involved in that. We’ll stay abreast. . . . When it’s the offseason or the weekends, no news is always good news. Knock on wood, we’ve had a long stretch where that’s been the case, and 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. So we’ll pay attention to all of it.”
Cooper could face a suspension under the league’s personal conduct policy. If he is suspended, he will lose a game check for each game he misses. That incentivizes Cooper not to do anything to delay the process, as his salary is $67,500 per game this season, but jumps to $721,667 per game next year.
