Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper has been in the news for all the wrong reasons this offseason and that continued Tuesday when his attorney claimed race played a role in the domestic abuse case involving the Black player and his White ex-girlfriend.
Both Cooper and Jade Fiegen were arrested two weeks ago when police arrived at the player’s Colorado residence and determined an altercation over the contents of each other’s phones had occurred, according to court records. But on Tuesday, the 23rd Judicial District Attorney in Douglas County dropped the charges against Fiegen.
The prosecutor also decided to continue with charges against Cooper — meaning the player still faces five charges, including second-degree assault-strangulation, which is a felony.
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Cooper is expected to be in court on Wednesday but before that happened, the lawyers for both parties released statements to 9News and Cooper’s attorney cited race as the reason his client is still on the hook.
“White woman admits she was the aggressor,” Harvey Steinberg said in his statement to the TV station. “Admits she grabbed my client’s phone out of his hand. Admits she went through it without his permission. Admits she threw it against the wall, damaging it. She makes allegations against my client which police don’t appear to believe. Charges dismissed against white woman. Prosecution against Black man continues. Justice in America.”
Attorney Ronald Gainor, who represents Fiegen, offered a different perspective and took a vastly different approach.
He didn’t mention race.
“She should never have been charged in the first place and the decision today by the district attorney’s office confirms that,” Gainor said in his statement to 9News. “This decision really goes a long way in vindicating her and we’re very happy with the court’s decision today.”
Cooper’s attorney accusing the prosecution of favoring the woman because she’s White probably isn’t going to earn him points if this goes to trial. It’s borderline unbecoming.
But Cooper’s alleged offseason activity has been that as well.
The woman and Cooper were both arrested two weeks ago when an altercation began at Cooper’s residence over allegations of infidelity. That escalated into a physical struggle involving their cell phones, according to arrest records.
Fiegen accused Cooper of cheating on her despite the pair being in a four-year relationship.
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Then things got weird.
Cooper apologized for the incident on his social media account.
Then, he was arrested a second time in a week and had to appear in court (again) when he violated a protection order. Cooper allegedly sent Fiegen a series of text messages and showed up outside her apartment.
That earned Cooper two more misdemeanor charges.
So now Cooper faces five charges in total:
The Broncos, by the way, opened a mandatory minicamp on Tuesday but Cooper was not present because he was excused.
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“We’ve excused him from this minicamp,” coach Sean Payton told reporters. “He’s taking this time; obviously, he’s got to work on himself. The club is very much in tune to the league office, local authorities here, and we’ve had several meetings.
“Clearly, from an ownership standpoint, head coach, organizationally, there’s a bar we have and an expectation we have that’s very high. We’ll consider all that as we continue to gather information.”
That doesn’t sound like the Broncos are 100 percent certain Cooper will be able to play for them at the start of the 2026 season, or even be on the team.
It’s possible Cooper might be in jail.
It’s possible Cooper might have to serve an NFL-mandated suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
It’s possible the club simply decides Cooper, who has 27 sacks the past three seasons, isn’t worth the aggravation or distraction.
A troubling offseason can sometimes do that.
