After the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Week 4 win over the San Francisco 49ers, there was a heated exchange between Liam Coen and Niners’ defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
Of course, this comes on the heels of Saleh saying earlier this week that the Jaguars‘ offense has a form of legal “signal-stealing.”
“Liam Coen and his staff, a couple guys coming from Minnesota, they got legally a really advanced signal-stealing type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation. They do a great job of it,” Saleh said.
“They formation you to try to find any nugget they can. We have to be great with our signals. Be great with our communication to combat some of those tells we might give on the field. They’re almost elite in that regard.”
As the two teams exited the field, it looked like Coen and Saleh had to be separated.
Robert Saleh and Jaguars HC Liam Coen and had to be separated after the game pic.twitter.com/9nvTY4rucZ
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) September 28, 2025
Coen was then asked about the incident in his post-game press conference.
“Not a big deal. Just keep that between us … Just going to keep that between us right now, that is it,” Coen said via Jaguars on SI.
49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan was then asked about Coen and Saleh’s post-game interaction.
“I didn’t see what happened so I’m not sure, but he [Liam] shouldn’t be so sensitive.”
Kyle Shanahan on Robert Saleh and Liam Coen having words after the game:
“I didn’t see what happened so I’m not sure, but he [Liam] shouldn’t be so sensitive.” pic.twitter.com/fbrgICdAyX
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) September 28, 2025
The legal signal-stealing, as Saleh called it, likely refers to Coen’s usage of motion, which can help the offense get a read on what the defense might be doing based on how they react–or even communicate–to the movement from different alignments.
“We kind of typically, by formation by game plan by working really hard as a coaching staff throughout the week, try to get indicators by your formation, motion, shift, pre-snap, those are the things you’re trying to do as a coach if you’re trying to put your players in the best position to be successful,” Coen said on Friday.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Heated exchange between Jaguars Liam Coen, 49ers Robert Saleh
