Dallas Cowboys rookie cornerback Jourdan Lewis will stand trial next week on a domestic violence charge, one the NFL standout and his lawyer said Thursday they will viogorously fight.

"Some cases have to be tried," Lewis' attorney John Shea told ESPN. "This is one of them."

Lewis, 21, was charged with the misdemeanor in March after a late-night altercation with his then-girlfriend.

The woman told police that Lewis grabbed her by the neck and held her to the floor before leaving the apartment they shared.

Lewis contends that any contact he had with the woman was in his bid to leave the apartment.

The trial was set to begin Monday in district court at Ann Arbor, Michigan, with Shea saying he hoped the trial would be concluded by Tuesday.

The Cowboys open training camp on Monday at Oxnard, California.

Lewis, selected by the Cowboys in the third round of the NFL Draft, was voted last year's Big Ten Conference top defensive back while at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor

Slource: AFP