T
he San Francisco 49ers are deep in preparation for their week five matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, where rebounding from a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars is the main priority. Losing 26-21 to drop to 3-1, the 49ers now face an even tougher test– a divisional matchup on a short week of rest. For the 49ers, the sense of urgency to win is at an all-time high.
But even though it is a new week, there is still attention on the loss to the Jaguars. After the game, 49ers defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh, and Jaguars head coach, Liam Coen, got into a heated exchange– leading to Saleh and Coen exchanging some choice words. And on Tuesday, Sept. 30, Saleh spoke to the media and addressed the incident– admitting that he used a poor choice of words.
Saleh Takes Accountability
The exchange between Coen and Saleh stemmed from comments that Saleh made last week leading up to the game, where he claimed that the Jaguars engage in legal sign stealing tactics. Saleh backtracked on his comments on Tuesday, saying that he meant that as a compliment but acknowledged he could have used better words.
“It is all good,” Saleh said. “Whatever happened on Sunday doesn’t change how I feel. In my heart, I genuinely was trying to give a compliment, and I own the fact that I probably used the wrong choice of words, but however you want to word it. I mean, they’re really, really good at putting their players in position to be successful. As coaches, we’re always chasing leverage. They’re trying to have winning leverage. We’re trying to take leverage away and everyone in the league is trying to find every avenue they can.”
“As a coach watching their tape, I recognize the amount of hours that must be spent to be able to build formations and define every little indicator they can to give their players a chance to be in a successful position,” Saleh added. “That’s exhausting and every team does it. Some do it better than others and it was my way of acknowledging that these guys are really, really, really good at it.”
In the process, Saleh extended a compliment to Coen and the 3-1 Jaguars. Coming off of a 4-13 season in 2024, the Jaguars are only one win away from matching their win total from last season and have looked like a team that is ready to compete for a playoff spot. The 49ers on the other hand, are 3-1 themselves but with injuries and a young team, are still trying to figure out their identity for 2025.
Saleh Talks About Sunday’s Exchange
The beef between Saleh and Coen may have been ignited because of Saleh’s comments, but it can be traced as far back as the offseason. Before hiring Coen as their head coach, Saleh was a serious candidate for that job, but the Jaguars instead opted for Coen– with Saleh returning to the 49ers to be their defensive coordinator. After the 49ers lost to the Jaguars, the original intent was for Saleh to shake hands with Coen and compliment him on the Jaguars’ start. But instead, the interaction escalated into something more.
“The intent was to say exactly what I just said that I think he’s doing a really nice job, which I do,” Saleh said. “That football team is playing and taking on his personality. They’re playing violently on the offensive line and their running backs are running really hard and I think they’re doing a really, really nice job. I just wanted to let him know that I appreciate the way he’s going about his business with his football team.”
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