49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh unexpectedly added some juice to his team's upcoming matchup with the Jaguars on Thursday evening. While speaking to media about Jacksonville, Saleh casually mentioned that Jaguars coach Liam Coen and his staff have a "really advanced sign stealing system." Stealing signals in certain ways is legal in the NFL but it was quite a comment for Saleh to just throw out there in a press conference.
On Friday, Coen was predictably asked about the claims while doing his own press conference. He refused to address them and said his focus is entirely on the Jaguars' upcoming game.
"I'm not going to speak on that fully right now," Coen said. "We have a huge game for us coming up this weekend. We've got a great defense that we've got to go and attack and that's where our whole mindset and mentality is right now."
When asked a follow-up about whether he was surprised Saleh "went there," Coen offered a similar refrain.
"Yeah, again, we're just really trying to focus on a darn good defense that we have to go and try to go attack. Offensively, get better, about us getting better. Putting it together for four quarters and trying to create some explosives in the pass game. Some of those things we're trying to get better at as an offense. So that's where our focus is."
Clearly the rookie head coach is already well-versed in coachspeak when he doesn't want to approach a certain topic. But he did relent a bit when asked specifically about the nature of watching film and recognizing defensive habits, taking Saleh's comments out of the equation.
"We have kind of typically, by formation, by game plan, by working really hard as a coaching staff throughout the week trying to get indicators," said Coen. "By your formation, motion, shifts, 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. Whether it's attacking man or zone coverage with your formations, motions, and concepts. It's a lot of hard work that goes into game-planning and trying to put your players in the best position to be successful."
Liam Coen on #49ers DC Robert Saleh’s comments about “sign stealing” #Jaguars | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/05cr4xIwta
— Mia O'Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) September 26, 2025
Coen obviously is not interested in giving the concept of sign-stealing any air. But the comments he did make gives fans some insight into how thin the line is between "stealing signs" and just gleaning information from tape.
An unexpected but fascinating subplot to this Week 4 matchup.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jaguars Coach Liam Coen Refuses to Respond to Robert Saleh's Sign-Stealing Claims.
