Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said the team is “staying the course” with linebacker Jonathon Cooper, who was arrested twice last month on domestic violence-related charges.

Cooper was excused from the team’s mandatory minicamp last month after being arrested on June 4 and again on June 11 following incidents with his girlfriend. He faces a felony charge of second-degree assault by strangulation in addition to three misdemeanors and is scheduled to appear in Douglas County (Colo.) court on Aug. 31 for an arraignment.

Cooper, 28, reported to training camp on Tuesday, and is participating in practices and other team activities.

“We’re staying the course with the league. We’re staying the course with league protocol, club protocol relative to what we’re advised to do,” Payton said. “He’s been fantastic working away from the building, and we’ll continue to do that and monitor it.

“We’re supportive, and yet very much aware of the seriousness of these types of things. Pretty much what I said in the spring, there’s a schedule and a course to this, and that’s what we have to follow.”

It is possible that a potential trial date could fall during the season, and Cooper could also face an NFL suspension of up to six games under the league’s personal conduct policy. Asked if the situation could prove a distraction to the team, Payton said, “No. Not at all.”

Arrest records indicate Cooper and his girlfriend, also arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence with an additional charge of petty criminal mischief, were involved in a dispute over allegations of infidelity. In signed affidavits, the parties gave differing accounts of the events that caused the argument to escalate.

Payton said he spent “a lot of time” with Cooper along with Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner and general manager George Paton, but declined to discuss specifics of the situation or its potential outcome.

“I don’t have any comment on the specifics because I think when it’s finally finished, we’ll all have a better feel for it,” Payton said. “It’s unfair for me to answer any of those questions right now without having the totality of it finalized. I think that’ll come sooner rather than later.”

Cooper has started every game in each of the past three seasons for Denver and has played in 81 games (65 starts) since the Broncos selected him in the seventh round in 2021.

Cooper recorded eight sacks, 50 tackles and 16 quarterback hits last season. He has 31.5 sacks, 63 QB hits, 266 tackles, three fumble recoveries (one returned for a touchdown), two forced fumbles and one interception.

He signed a four-year, $60 million extension in November 2024.

–Field Level Media

Optimism that New York Giants star receiver Malik Nabers will be healthy for the start of the season rose considerably on Wednesday’s first day of training camp workouts.

Nabers is nine months removed from surgery for a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee. He did more individual work than observers anticipated and coach John Harbaugh was pleased with what he saw.

“You saw him. He looked good,” Harbaugh said after the workout at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. “He’s got a process going.”

As for Thursday’s work amount, Harbaugh said it will depend how Nabers’ knee responds.

“We’ll see where he’s at,” Harbaugh said. “Part of it will be that — how it feels, how it responds, how it reacts, all those things. I think our guys, our trainers and staff, will be monitoring. See how the knee responds more than anything.

“We’ll just take it one day at a time. It was encouraging today.”

Nabers, who turned 23 on Tuesday, was an immediate star as a rookie when he caught 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games. He earned Pro Bowl honors.

But he saw action in just four games last season when he had 18 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He injured the knee against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 28 and underwent surgery exactly one month later.

Harbaugh is in his first season with the Giants after 18 campaigns as the Baltimore Ravens’ head coach. He knows not to rush an injured player back at the outset of camp.

“I think you take it one day at a time,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll meet the circumstances where we find them every single day. I mean, maybe he’ll get way ahead, maybe he won’t, whatever. You can’t really put a timetable on it exactly, I don’t think. I think you just see where it goes because we want him to be at his best.

“So, when he’s ready to be at his best, he’ll be at his best. And if you work hard every day, the body’s amazing. So, he’s been doing that. So, that’s really what matters, and that’s all we try to really measure.”

Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was pleased to see Nabers flying around the practice field.

“Well, he definitely has a presence about him,” Dart said of Nabers. “There’s an aura that he has on the field that is exhilarating. It makes me happy. It makes everybody happy just to see him out there. I think for him, he’s had a lot of positives. We’re just going to continue to get him in slowly. He’s doing a great job with how he’s attacking his recovery. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him and his approach to the game and how much he’s missed being out there with the guys.”

Also, Giants running back Cam Skattebo was on the field as he returns from a major ankle injury sustained last Oct. 26 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“He got through it just fine,” Harbaugh said of Skattebo. “Looked good. It was good to see.”

Skattebo rushed for 401 yards and five touchdowns and added two receiving scores in eight games before the injury.

–Field Level Media

The Kansas City Royals placed first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday due to right wrist soreness.

In a corresponding move, the Royals recalled outfielder John Rave from Triple-A Omaha.

Pasquantino, 28, had gone on the IL after fracturing the hamate bone in his right hand on June 13 and undergoing surgery. He returned to action July 11, but exited in the ninth inning of the 3-2 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday due to right hand soreness. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

Pasquantino is batting a career-low .232 with six home runs and 33 RBIs in 79 games.

For his career, Pasquantino is hitting .261 with 76 homers, 295 RBIs, a .328 on-base percentage and .439 slugging percentage in 503 regular-season games.

Rave, 28, batted .222 (4-for-18) with one home run in nine games this season for the Royals. He hit .285 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs in 77 games for Omaha this season.

He has played in 81 games for Kansas City since 2025 and is batting .199 (34-for-171) with five homers and 15 RBIs.

–Field Level Media