DENVER — Denver Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper pleaded not guilty to domestic violence charges in Douglas County court on Monday, setting plans for a July jury trial.

Cooper, 28, and his girlfriend were arrested last Thursday and charged with criminal mischief as a crime of domestic violence after Parker police officers responded to reports of a “domestic incident” between the two late that night. The charge has different severities based on the amount of damage caused, resulting in a misdemeanor-level charge for Cooper and a petty-level offense for his girlfriend.

The football player’s case is scheduled to go before a jury in late July, according to Douglas County court records. During Monday’s disposition hearing, Cooper pleaded not guilty to the criminal mischief charge, and a motions hearing was scheduled for July 6. The jury trial is expected to begin on July 22.

Harvey Steinberg, Cooper’s attorney, said the defense team doesn’t intend to file any motion to dismiss and wants the case to be heard by a jury. Steinberg pushed for a trial “as early as possible” during Monday’s hearing to avoid affecting Cooper’s employment as a football player.

The 2026 NFL season officially starts in September, but the Broncos will play preseason games as early as Aug. 14 and training camp begins the last week of July.

Cooper has become an important pass-rusher on the Broncos’ defense across a five-year tenure in Denver, originally drafted in the seventh round in the 2021 NFL draft. In November 2024, he signed a four-year contract extension worth $33 million in guaranteed money and up to $60 million in total value.

“He’s consistent,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said of Cooper in August 2025. “He’s the same guy every single day. He’s the fire starter for our defense. He’s physical. He’s a better rusher than people think he is. He’s a really good football player, and that’s the kind of guys we have on our team.”

After recording a career-best 10.5 sacks in 2024 and another 8.0 sacks in 2025, Cooper stands to make a total of $12 million in total cash payout this season in Denver. The Broncos typically begin training camp in late July, meaning Cooper’s trial could take place just before the team reports back to the facility for the start of the 2026 season.

Cooper was arrested in Parker shortly after 11:15 p.m. Thursday and booked into the Douglas County jail roughly three hours later, according to inmate records. His girlfriend, whom The Denver Post is not currently identifying, was also arrested.

The girlfriend told police that she had confronted Cooper about cheating allegations, which led to a fight over his phone, according to the pair’s arrest affidavits.

Neither party was charged with harassment or assault because there was “no probable cause … given the conflicting statements and lack of specific physical evidence,” Parker police wrote in Cooper’s affidavit.

Cooper’s girlfriend took his phone from him, threw it across the room and then went to pick it up and look through it, according to both affidavits. That’s where their stories split.

Cooper, wanting his phone back, told police that he grabbed his girlfriend by her upper arm and took it, according to his affidavit. He also told police that he “braced his neck against her neck” to prevent her from getting it and admitted to threatening to break his girlfriend’s phone if she didn’t leave his apartment.

But his girlfriend told a separate officer that the football player had “grabbed her by the neck” and held her up against the wall, according to the affidavit for her arrest. Cooper’s girlfriend also said he picked her up and threw her back on the ground several times and punched the wall “next to her face.”

When she didn’t leave, Cooper bit her phone, damaging it, according to both arrest affidavits.

Officers noted in the affidavit that the girlfriend’s injuries didn’t quite match her claims, observing a small mark on her neck, scratches on her arm and a small cut on her hand. Those injuries “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,” police said.

As of Monday morning, the girlfriend was next scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial conference on June 16.

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