Sean Payton said Jonathon Cooper handled the NFL’s return-to-play process head-on, and the Broncos now appear ready to get their starting outside linebacker back in the mix.
Following Denver’s Week 6 win over the Seahawks, it was reported that Cooper was being taken off the commissioner’s exempt list and could be available for Sunday’s road game at Arizona. On Monday, with the Broncos shifting focus to the Cardinals, Payton said Cooper did what he needed to do to clear the path back onto the field after his domestic violence-related arrests over the summer.
“He initiated the steps right away himself," Payton told the media via conference call. "I won’t go into detail all the things that he felt were important.
I think the league was on the same page, the club. A lot of it becomes a league issue at that point.
To his credit, he didn’t back away at all from what he felt like was necessary.”
Cooper had been on the exempt list since Aug. 30, just before Denver’s regular-season opener, while he awaited trial. ESPN’s Jeff Legwold reported on Oct. 16 that "he was in Douglas County (Colo.) court last week for a motions hearing and has a March 2-4 trial scheduled in his case, with a pretrial hearing set for Feb. 19."
Legwold also reported that "his time on the exempt list -- the first six weeks of the regular season -- would count toward any league-mandated suspension in the future. If suspended, however, he would have to return the weekly game checks he has received because suspensions from the personal conduct policy are without pay."
While he was sidelined from game action, Cooper stayed around the team. Back in August, Payton said the conditions for Cooper’s return this season included meeting with a therapist, and that he was still working inside the building.
“We wait on the league," he said on Aug. 31.
"In the meantime, the difference now is he’s in the facility, he’s lifting, he’s in the meetings. He can’t practice, and then we just wait for this process to play out.”
Denver also received a one-week roster exemption for Cooper’s return, but the Broncos will still need to make a corresponding move because the roster is at the 53-man limit.
When he’s active, Cooper should step back into his starting role opposite Nik Bonitto, even if his workload is limited at first. That’s especially true with Jonah Elliss dealing with a leg injury suffered in last Thursday’s win in Seattle.
Cooper has 31.5 sacks over his six-year career, and the matchup looks favorable against Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Brissett has been sacked 12 times in six games, including five times in Arizona’s Week 5 loss to Detroit.
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