A heated exchange between Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach Liam Coen and San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator Robert Saleh took place after Sunday’s game.
The interaction came on the heels of Saleh saying that the Jaguars‘ offense under Coen has a way of legally stealing signals.
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On Tuesday, Saleh was asked about the post-game interaction with Coen and noted that his word choice on the matter should have been different, but that he meant it as a compliment.
“It’s all good. Whatever happened on Sunday doesn’t change how I feel,” Saleh said. “In my heart, I genuinely was trying to give a compliment. I own the fact that I probably used the wrong choice of words.”
The Coen offense does a really good job of utilizing motion before the snap from different formations to force the defense to adjust late. That movement by the defense can tip their hand and let the offense know what might be coming.
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In addition to that, any sort of communication between the defenders could be a tell as well. From watching the film, opponents could pick up what certain hand signals or calls mean.
Gathering that info from watching tape is completely legal and something every team does to try to gain any possible advantage.
“They are really, really good at putting their players in position to be successful,” Saleh added. “Everyone in the league is trying to find every avenue they can. As a coach watching their tape, I recognized the hours they put in.”
An added wrinkle to all of this is that when the Jaguars were going through their head coaching search early in the year, Saleh was in the mix before Coen ultimately took the job.
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Saleh further complimented Coen and the jobs he’s done leading the Jaguars to a 3-1 start.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: 49ers’ Robert Saleh on post-game interaction with Jaguars’ Liam Coen
