Jaguars HC Liam Coen and 49ers DC Robert Saleh found themselves in the middle of some spicy sideline drama this week after Saleh peeled back the curtain on Jacksonville’s signal-stealing setup. Saleh went out of his way to say it’s all perfectly legal, but apparently that didn’t calm Saleh one bit. The Jags coach finally clapped a “Keep my name out of your mouth” when the game ended. The Athletic, meanwhile, wasted no time handing Coen a reality check.

According to The Athletic, a veteran coach suggested that it wasn’t the smartest move to call Saleh out. “I would just say there’s plenty of crises that are coming that are not under your control to be creating a little bit of a news item for something that is under your control,” this coach said.

Exactly. You just handed an undefeated team their first L with a 26-21 win. Coen should’ve just dropped the classic postgame handshake, flashed a smirk, and kept it moving. There’ll be a lot more speed bumps along the way. Save your energy for the next gauntlet.

But what led to this reaction? Let’s talk about what led to this reaction from Coen. “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. They do a great job of it. We have to be great with our signals. We gotta be great with our communication to combat some of those tells we might give on the field,” Robert Saleh said a few days ago.

On the surface, it doesn’t feel like Saleh is taking a shot at Coen’s signal-stealing. It’s more of a praise than a shade. Coen’s reaction isn’t completely unjustified. Maybe it was Saleh playing mind games. Or maybe Coen thought that it would send a signal to other teams to take extra efforts to disguise the Jaguars’ signals. Or…it could’ve just been a compliment, which Coen obviously didn’t believe.

Let’s talk about how the exchange went down between the two coaches.

How the exchange between Coen and Saleh went down

It didn’t feel like Coen had any hard feelings about Saleh’s words before the game. He basically shot down the question and said that he just wanted to focus on “putting together our best game plan.” Well, what went down after the game clearly didn’t exude the calmness of those words.

After the Jags sealed the win, Coen did the cordial thing first: a quick handshake with 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan, all business. But when Robert Saleh rolled up, the vibe flipped fast. Coen spun around and unloaded: “Keep my name out of your mouth. Keep my name out of your mouth. Keep my name out of your f—— mouth.”

And Robert Saleh didn’t back away from the idea of a heated exchange, either. “I was trying to compliment your ass. I will f— your world up. You don’t wanna f— with me. I will f—– end your f—– life.” Well…we have an answer. He genuinely meant those words as a compliment. Or so he says.

Coen and Kyle Shanahan both tried to downplay the incident in their post-game presser. Liam Coen called it “not a big deal,” and Shanahan said, “I don’t think he should be that sensitive about it. But it is what it is. Not too worried about it.” It was never supposed to be a big deal in the first place. But now it kind of is.