Cardinals' Jonathan Dwyer pleads not guilty to hitting wife

Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer entered a plea of not guilty Monday morning to charges that he assaulted his wife.

Dwyer entered his plea during an arraignment hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court, Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, told USA TODAY Sports.

Dwyer was present for the hearing.

Dwyer is facing a felony charge of aggravated assault as well as eight misdemeanors, stemming from incidents over two days in July. Phoenix police investigators have accused Dwyer of head butting his wife and breaking her nose, and throwing her phone off the second story of their home to prevent her from calling 911.

Dwyer's wife filed her complaint to police on Sept. 11, and he was arrested on Sept. 17. The Cardinals placed Dwyer on the reserve-non football injury list on Sept. 18, ending his season.

Dwyer could be punished under the NFL's personal conduct policy. The league, under pressure for its handling of domestic violence cases involving former Ravens running back Ray Rice and Carolina defensive end Greg Hardy, announced in August enhanced penalties for players involved in domestic violence incidents, starting with a six-game suspension for a first offense.