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Are Jacksonville Jaguars 'almost elite' in stealing signals? Liam Coen doesn't take bait
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- Are Jacksonville Jaguars 'almost elite' in stealing signals? Liam Coen doesn't take bait
Video of Liam Coen has been added since this story's initial publishing.
San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh saluted the Jaguars ' offensive coaching staff on Sept. 25, by saying they have a "really advanced signal stealing-type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation."
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Saleh, speaking to the Bay Area media, said the Jaguars and coach Liam Coen are "legally" able to ascertain opponents' defensive signals.
The Jaguars (2-1) visit the 49ers (3-0) Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
"They do a great job with it," Saleh said. "We've got to be great with our signals and we've got to be great with our communication to combat some of the tells that we might give on the field. They're almost elite in that regard."
Before practice Friday, Jaguars caoch Liam Coen was asked about Saleh's comments.
"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 have a great defense we have to go out and attack and that's where our whole mindset is."
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Asked if he was surprised Saleh was so public with his thoughts, Coen said: "Again, we're really trying to focus on (facing) a darn good defense we have to try and go attack and offensively, get better and putting (things) together for four quarters and try to create some explosives in the pass game."
Saleh said figuring out the defensive signs is common among the "whole (coaching) tree," of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay and cited Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell.
O'Connell was the Rams' offensive coordinator before Coen succeeded him in 2022 and current Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski was on Minnesota's staff working for O'Connell from 2022-24. Jaguars pass game coordinator Shane Waldron was on the Rams' staff from 2017-20 and offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett was on the Minnesota staff last year.
Not Thirsty Thursday: Liam Coen's Jacksonville Jaguars are different. Want proof? Watch practice on Thursdays
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Asked follow-up questions about how he knows the Jaguars are good at figuring out the signals, Saleh didn't provide a specific example.
"Whatever nugget they can find, they catch it," said Saleh, the Jaguars' linebackers coach from 2014-16 who interviewed for the team's head-coaching vacancy in January. "They always happen to find themselves in good situations based on the coverage you show. There's nothing illegal about it. I'm not suggesting that. It's just, you can tell they've got a (change-the-play) system that's getting them into a very advantageous system multiple times during the course of the game."
NFL teams have coach-to-player communication via helmet radio, but coaches and players still use hand signals before the snap to make changes to their pass rush and coverage calls. The way Saleh sees it, the Jaguars have been able to translate those signals and thus get into a better play at the line of scrimmage.
"We dealt with it in Minnesota last year," said Saleh, who was the New York Jets ' head coach when the Vikings beat the Jets 23-17. "You can see it on tape when they're studying. It's like, 'How'd they know to be in that call at that time?' We've experienced it with the Rams a little bit. It's not an uncommon thing. This group of (coaches), they're pretty good at it."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Are Jacksonville Jaguars 'almost elite' in legally stealing signals?
