Jaguars' Liam Coen Responds to Signal-Stealing Comments by 49ers' Robert Saleh

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen responded to comments from San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh regarding Jacksonville legally stealing signals of opposing defenses.

"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 by your formation, motions, shifts, pre-snap," Coen said, per Saad Yousuf of The Athletic. "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."

On Thursday, Saleh detailed the ways that Coen's squad has been able to diagnose defensive coverages prior to the snap.

"Liam Coen and his staff coming from Minnesota they got legally a really advanced signal stealing system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation," Saleh told reporters. "They do a great job of it. They formation you to just 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."

Pre-snap motion has been increasingly used around the league over the past few seasons, helping offenses determine the alignments and coverages of their opponents in order to gain a potential advantage.

Coen utilized pre-snap motions throughout his lone season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator in 2024 as well as his prior tenure on the Los Angeles Rams' coaching staff under Sean McVay.

The Jaguars have been able to consistently move the ball throughout the start of their 2025 campaign, ranking No. 8 in the NFL by averaging 356.3 yards per game.

Coen's offense will face off against Saleh's defense when Jacksonville travels to play San Francisco on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET.