This Jan. 7, 2011, file photo shows Denver Broncos football player Perrish Cox arriving at the Douglas County Justice Center in Castle Rock, Colo. On May 16, Cox entered a plea of not guilty. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Denver Broncos cornerback Perrish Cox‘s second year in the NFL is full of uncertainty.

Not only is the ongoing lockout looming over Cox’s head, but the 2010 fifth round draft pick of the Broncos is in a lot of legal hot water. On Monday, Cox pleaded not guilty to two sexual assault charges stemming from an undisclosed incident that occurred in September of last year.

Cox’s trial was set for October 28th, reports the Denver Post. If there is an NFL season, Cox’s trial would fall on the Monday immediately following the Broncos’ Week 6 bye Sunday.

“I just want the season to start back up. It’s tough,” Cox said after the hearing. “It’s something that stays over your head. You stay positive, just control what I can control.”

These are extremely serious charges, so we won’t comment on what Cox or the Broncos should or shouldn’t do as long as the details of the case remain sealed. Innocent until proven guilty… hopefully these ongoing events won’t be too big a distraction for Cox or the Broncos.

Broncos’ Cox pleads not guilty, trial set for October [Denver Post]

Denver Broncos linebacker (and team captain) D.J. Williams was arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence Sunday, 7News Denver reports.

Head Coach Josh McDaniels said he had not seen or spoken to Williams as of the coach’s 10:00 a.m. Friday morning presser.

Lindsay Jones of The Denver Post notes that this is the second DUI incident for Williams.  He was previously arrested in 2005.

The fact that this is his second offense will likely put him under the eye of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.  Notably, NFL players Jared Allen and Vincent Jackson received respective four-game and two-game suspensions for multiple DUI arrests.

The Broncos will defer to the league for Williams’ discipline, said McDaniels.

Darrent Williams

Juror Ray Barrientos told reporters he was prepared to find Willie Clark guilty of murdering Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams before he was dismissed from trial Monday. He also told reporters that he believes his fellow jurors will rule the same way.

Those comments issued a message — a signal of hope that justice will be served, three years after Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting. Unfortunately, not all of Barrientos’ comments conveyed the same message.

Barrientos, 42, who was dismissed from his duties as a juror for prematurely offering his opinion on the case to a third party, made some unsettling comments regarding one of the prosecution’s principle witnesses: Clark’s fellow gang member Daniel “Ponytail” Harris. Barrientos believes Harris was a second shooter that night, and, through plea bargaining with the district attorney’s office, is getting away with murder.

(Barrientos) especially did not believe the testimony of Daniel “Ponytail” Harris, who got a plea deal in exchange for his testimony and is expected to go into the federal witness protection program.

“I couldn’t believe a damn thing he said,” Barrientos said. “He is the second shooter. It sucks that they will only be able to convict one of the two.”

Barrientos said he is disappointed that prosecutors made a deal with Harris.

“How do we go about trying Daniel Harris?” Barrientos said, “because he is getting away with 16 counts of attempted murder.”

The prosecution made a number of plea agreements with witnesses in order to convict Clark. By Barrientos’ comments, they look to have succeeded (and we’ll know for certain in the days ahead). But at what cost? Did another man get away with murder?

If so, it’s a tough pill to swallow. Call me a silly idealist who isn’t seasoned in the modern legal system (no, really, go ahead), but the thought of DWill’s killer walking makes my blood boil. We can only hope that’s merely the opinion of one man, and that the district attorney’s office knows what it’s doing.

Dismissed juror would have voted guilty [Denver Post]

Willie Clark

The 12-member jury of the Darrent Williams murder trial is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday, nearly two weeks into presentations of over three years of evidence.

The suspect, Willie Clark, opted not to testify in his own defense Monday. The prosecution has called two rebuttal witnesses today, at least one of whom decided to testify after initially refusing and being imprisoned for contempt.

Closing arguments are expected this afternoon.

Several witnesses have testified, often overcoming fear for their own lives and the lives of their loved ones, that they had seen or heard Clark admit shooting at Williams’ stretch Hummer limousine that night. As this Denver Daily News article details (note: the article is dated Wednesday, March 10th; our guess is the editor didn’t intend to publish this story until then), one such witness, Julian, is expected to testify today that Clark admitted to the shooting several times.

Julian (last name withheld out of respect to his safety concerns), a close personal friend of Clark, said he had numerous text messages and voice mails from Clark from around the time of the shooting.

“He said, ‘We dumped on some fools last night,’” Julian told the jury, referring to one of the voice mail messages he said he received from Clark.

“And when he said that to you, what did you think that meant?” asked prosecutor Tim Twining.

“That he shot somebody or shot at somebody,” the witness said.

Julian refused to testify when he was called into court on March 4 because Habas would not grant his request that the media not publish his name. He was sent to the Denver County Jail on contempt charges but was released the next day on the condition that he would give his testimony. Habas has told counsel of both sides that she’s had to perform a “very, very narrow balancing act” between the safety of witnesses and granting Clark a fair trial.

“Do you have concerns about testifying?” Twining asked in his direct examination.

“A lot of concerns,” Julian replied.

“What are those concerns?” she asked.

“The safety of my children, my mother, my ex-wife and my son,” he said.

Julian also told the jury that he overheard a conversation between Clark and Daniel “PT” Harris, who was allegedly in the car with Clark during the shooting, about getting rid of the gun. The witness also told Clark that he needed to burn the evidence.

“I told him he needed to get rid of it,” Julian said. “I told him that he needed to burn it.”

Judging by multiple reports throughout the week (and we want to thank the folks at the Denver Post and Associated Press for doing a great job covering the trial), Julian isn’t the only one to present such testimony. Our guess is we’re hours away from knowing that Willie Clark’s living quarters will forever boast concrete walls, iron bars, and a toilet a few feet from his bed.

Henry, who was raising three children with his fiancee Loleini Tonga, was 26.

The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was search for news on Henry, only to find the worst. What a senseless and saddening tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Henry’s family, friends, and the entire Bengals community and fans.

Josh McDaniels and Ladainian Tomlinson chat postgame. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Back in October, with camera crews mere feet away, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos players got in a well-publicized verbal and semi-physical exchange as they warmed up for their Monday Night Football outing. Before Sunday’s Broncos-Chargers tilt, many noted that there didn’t appear to be such a fracas.

There was. This one just happened behind the scenes.

According to multiple reports, Chargers linebackers goaded Josh McDaniels and a group of Broncos players as they walked by during pregame warm-ups. McDaniels would later describe the Chargers’ comments as “not for papers” and hoped to avoid the story altogether, but, in the moment, the head coach responded to the Chargers’ smack talk.

He told the linebackers, “We own you.”

After the game, linebacker Shaun Phillips told the story to the San Diego Union Tribune’s Kevin Acee in a snippet that apparently wasn’t appropriate for papers, either:

“I’m not surprised,” Shaun Phillips said. “He’s a little cocky (rear end). It’s all good, all fun and games. We didn’t look too much into it. As a coach, I hope he has that mind-set. But to say he owns us? I mean, you beat us one time. What has he really done in this league? He had a team 6-0 and now he’s looking up at us from second place.”

For something that Phillips described as “all fun and games,” his and his teammates’ other comments seem to indicate otherwise.

According to San Diego radio station producer Marty Caswell, Phillips called the Broncos’ decision to onside kick in the third quarter “stupid” and showed McDaniels’ “cocky nature.”

Caswell also said that Shawne Merriman called McDaniels’ comments “very cute,” and will have more on his radio program Monday.

This type of pregame skirmish is to be expected from players that pumped when they collide before a game that heated, but a Head Coach not able to keep a level head before the game? I’m disappointed.

Meanwhile, the Chargers showed what most of us knew — that they suffer a gaping hole where their class should be. Those quotes infuriate and disgust me, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Broncos players read them and feel the same way. The Broncos could rally behind their coach because of these comments, and if San Diego and Denver were to somehow meet in the playoffs, the Chargers will only have themselves to thank for the firestorm they’ll face.

All that being said, McDaniels still missed an opportunity to be the bigger man. As Head Coach of the Denver Broncos, I had hoped he would be.

McDaniels incites Chargers [San Diego Union Tribune]

The rest of the world moves forward with time.  Brandon Marshall is stuck in reverse.

Rather than bite the bullet, answer questions about his return to the team and get his NFL-mandated presser over with, Marshall continued to make headlines with his rebellious behavior.

This time, he wasn’t punting footballs; he was kicking aside the media’s questions.

As Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette transcribes:

So, Brandon, did you have any making up to do with your teammates upon your return?

“This week, in preparing for Cleveland, it’s going to be tough and we know that,” Marshall said. “We’re going to do our best to give it our best shot.”

So how close are you to being back to your Pro Bowl form?

“I think Coach (Eric) Mangini is doing a great job with the guys, getting them to do what they’re supposed to do, doing their job, and it’s making it tough on opposing offenses,” Marshall said.

The only time Marshall spoke directly to a question was when he said he was completely healthy. Marshall had hip surgery in the offseason and missed a couple of weeks of training camp with a hamstring injury.

“I think I was 100 percent a long time ago,” Marshall said.

After a public relations staffer announced that there was one more question before the locker room was closed, Marshall decided he didn’t have time for another answer.

“All right,” Marshall said, walking away after the question was done.

As you can see, Marshall refused to address the reporters’ questions in his two-minute interview, instead choosing to recite the company line about the Cleveland Browns.

CBS4′s Gary Miller called him out on it, and according to colleague Vic Lombardi, things “got lippy.” Later, per Miller’s request, Lombardi clarified, saying the discussion was contentious/awkward.

Schwab adds, “Here’s the thing – when guys don’t talk to media, it cuts off fans’ access to them too. Also, it means your teammates have to answer more.”

It also keeps Marshall in this never-ending cycle of controversy.

Brandon Marshall just doesn’t get it. If he’s going to start playing the part of the “good soldier,” as we have been led to believe since his suspension weeks ago, it needs to happen wholeheartedly and completely, not just on the football field.

What, Brandon, are the Broncos more likely to give you your big shiny contract now? Now, after you left them the media mess to clean up, along with the egg on their face?

Brandon Marshall is the stubborn child who refuses to eat his vegetables before getting dessert. He’ll eat them, but he’ll piss and moan and throw a fit and make sure you understand with perfect clarity he’s only doing this for that ice cream.

Grow up, Brandon.

• Kyle Orton is embracing Colorado.  Seriously.  He went camping and stuff.  [Denver Post]
• A fan-focused McDebate.  [DPO]
• Chad Ochocinco says he has a surprise for the NFL this Sunday.  [NFL.com]
• Pat Bowlen: The Real Man in Charge.  [DPO]

• Knowshon Moreno is poised for the 2009 Rookie of the Year honor.  [Skinny Post]
• Carson Palmer expects to be “rust proof.”  [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• Marshall stil a Bronco, Ochocinco still a Bengal.  [DPO]
• Tony Scheffler had a lousy 2007 preseason, then had his best regular season numbers as a pro.  Current Broncos will be testing that theory.  [Colorado Springs Gazette]
• Klis steps out on a lone limb, saying a Marshall deal is not imminent.  [DPO]
• Hey, whaddya know, Woody Paige made me laugh.  [DPO]

Previously on BT

Sometimes during the regular season, we get busy.  It’s possible, although foolish on your part, that you might have missed something.  Here are some recent headlines:

• Orton can’t make any promises, but hopes to play Sunday.
• Moreno and Marshall also look good to go.
• Exploring the provenance of one Josh McDaniels.
• Marshall and the Broncos talking contract extension.
• Could the Broncos’ season opener be blacked out in Cincinnati?
• Wednesday: Quotes, Injury Report
• Wesley Woodyard among seven team captains named.  Kudos the second-year player.
• Mario Haggan is too, and got a shiny new contract to boot.  How ’bout them underdogs?

NFL/Other

• The Merriman/Tequila thing gets downright silly.  [National Football Post]
• Matt Cassel will be listed as questionable for the Chiefs opener.  [Kansas City Star]
• It’s a problem when a team’s “Fresh Face to Watch” (Richard Seymour) hasn’t even reported yet.  [Contra Costa Times]
• Word is Brady Quinn got the gig in Cleveland.  The Broncos play the Browns next week.  [NFL.com]
• Another crazy win for the Rockies last night.  Leading early, losing late, two-run walk off single in the ninth.  Can they finish the sweep of the Reds tonight and give Denver some Cincinnati good luck?  [Purple Row]

• Andre Goodman says he’s ready to embrace the role of “the other” cornerback.  [DPO]
• Rookie Robert Ayers admits he still has a ways to go to get up to NFL speed.  [CSG]
• Klis doesn’t think the Broncos are bringing in another quarterback.  [DPO]

NFL/Other

• Found this interesting: with McDaniels gone, Pats coach Bill Belichick will be calling the offense’s plays.  [Yahoo! Sports]
• Shawne Merriman and Tila Tequila are taking their… um, situation… to twitter.  [Deadspin]
• NCAA: Rams over Buffaloes in The Showdown over the weekend.  Millions of CU fans could be heard crying in terror, only to be suddenly silenced.  [CSG]
• NCAA: In an instant classic last night, Canes QB Jacory Harris led Miami over FSU using “only two fingers.”  Think Orton was taking notes?  [ESPN]
• MLB: Rockies keeping a 2-game lead over San Fran in the NL Wild Card.  [ESPN]